The Worst Field Trip Ever
by KATTALNUVA
Summary: The newspaper club goes on a weekend field trip to beachside manor that just happens to belong to the most famous witch in the world. Tsukune and friends expect a weekend of sun, sand, and surf, but they are in for a night of mystery, madness, and murder!
1. The Kaiser Katana

Introduction

** Last time on Rosario & Vampire, Tsukune went through an astonishing transformation into a legendary Super Ghoul. All the while, the girls went head to toe with Demona, a clone created by Professor Yoshi Serizawa using their DNA. Demona had inherited not only all their powers, but the one thing they all had in common, their desire for Tsukune. While Tsukune went through his metamorphosis, Demona challenged the girls to a fighting tournament, with Tsukune as the prize. Yukari, Ruby, Mizore, and Kurumu were all defeated with minimal effort, when not even Moka could stand up to Demona, it was Tsukune to the rescue! With his transformation complete, Tsukune engaged Demona in a vicious battle utilizing his newfound power. The clashes were brutal and Demona was unwilling to give up having Tsukune as her mate. Finally Tsukune realized that the only way to convince Demona that he would never love her was to kill her. For this he used his ultimate attack, The Blue Wave of Death.**

** Demona's body was never found, it was the Headmaster's theory that the blast vaporized her. After the battle Tsukune was taken to the infirmary, where he was reminded by Moka's father never to lose control of his new nature… or else. Later Moka came to visit Tsukune alone, she asked him nicely if he would make love with her. He politely refused her on the grounds that her father would kill him if he found out, among other things. But he promised her that they would some day, but there is a problem with that…**

Tsukune Aono may have won the fight against Demona, but he had fought that battle on heart alone. He needed to learn to better utilize his new powers and control them, which is why he had been sneaking out at night for the past month to practice. He was guided by the spirit of his predecessor, the late Udar the Wicked, who had granted Tsukune the level of super ghouldom as a gift, so that Tsukune could stay with Moka and have what he himself never had but craved the most, love.

"Alright… PULL!"

A disk came flying through the air at Tsukune, he reacted by blasting it with a burst of energy that he fired from his hand. Soon several more disks came flying at him all at once. He blew them up by firing continued bursts at them.

"Good… Now do it blindfolded."

"Alright Yoda, just give me a minute."

Tsukune blindfolded himself and got ready.

"Okay… Pull!"

A few weeks ago Tsukune would have had trouble with this, but with guidance he was able to learn to use his other senses to see what his eyes couldn't.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Seven out of seven, perfect, do it again."

After he had done his homework Tsukune would spend hours training like this every night. He always did it this late because he didn't want the girls to know that his predecessor was telling him to do things and showing him how.

"Well done Tsukune, you've made excellent progress this past month. Now I think it's time for a reward."

"What kind of reward?"

"Raise your hand in the air and say, to me Kaiser Katana."

"Okay… To me Kaiser Katana!"

Suddenly a sword came falling out of the sky and landed in the ground beside Tsukune. Its hilt was a shiny black and was in the shape of a skull. The blade itself gave off something of an eerie indigo glow.

"What's this?"

"It's my old sword. You won't always be able to fight with just your bare hands. Sometime you will need a weapon, and not just any weapon."

Tsukune took the sword in his hand. He wasn't sure what kind of metal it was made off.

"Do you think I could get a good price on this at the antique shop?"

"You imbecile! That is the last of my possessions that wasn't taken after my untimely demise! You can't put a price on that!"

"So, I could just take the best offer."

"Why are you suddenly so worried about money?"

"You know very well. Graduation day is just a couple months away. And that means I need to tell the others…"

During the fight with Demona, Tsukune had stated that he was not a prize to be won, and that only he would decide who he would love. As soon as he recovered from the fight, the girls and their mothers asked him who he was going to pick. He had told them that he was not yet ready to make a decision.

"I don't need the power to read minds to know you lied to them. You made your decision a long time ago… You just don't know how to tell them."

"You've never been in my shoes before. You've never had to break the hearts of four girls."

"You're right about that. I can teach you how to fight and how to charm someone, but when it comes telling them the news without destroying them, you're on your own. But what does that have to do with money?"

"Simple… Without money, I can't buy a ring."

"Oh… You're ready to take the plunge already?"

"… I'm not just some crazy teenage boy who's in over his head… I know what I want… But I can't paint a masterpiece without paint, and I can't buy paint if I don't have any money."

"Well, selling my old sword is out of the question. I'm not sure too many people would be comfortable with a glowing sword in their store."

"Whatever… So… are we done for tonight? I'm so tired."

"You can sleep on the bus tomorrow."

Tsukune remembered that tomorrow he and the rest of the newspaper club would be going on a field trip. For some reason they had been invited to the beachside manor of who according to Yukari was the most witch in the whole world, Jessenia Esmeralda. Of course to the humans she was just a famed fortune teller, but she was so much more than just that.

"Why would the most famous witch and the world decide to invite us to her house?" asked Tsukune.

"It's a mystery that beats the hell out of me. Now get on with your exercises."


	2. The Long Drive

Tsukune finally got to be around 1:00 am. When he finally got back to his dorm he collapsed onto his bed fully dressed. After what seemed like minutes his alarm went off.

"What the heck? What times is it?"

Tsukune looked at his clock. It was 6:00 am.

"Oh right… We're leaving for the field trip in about an hour… I better take a shower and get dressed."

Not even a shower could get Tsukune going. After he was done he made his way to the bus stop and waited.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Tsukune looked up from his watch. He was always smitten by how cute Moka looked in casual clothes.

"I… I just made it here too…"

"Tsukune, you look tired."

"I was up late doing homework. That way I can enjoy this weekend field trip."

"I didn't want my homework to bother me either… But I don't think I stayed up as long as you did."

"Well… That's how devoted I am to my education… I can't believe I just said that."

"Why are we going so early?"

"They said it's going to be a really long drive… I'd hate for us all to be spending the whole day driving in that bus."

"Well… At least we'd have each other…"

"Tsukune…"

"Moka…"

"Tsukune…"

"Moka…"

"Tsukune… You smell nice…"

"Oh boy…"

"Just a little… okay?"

"No!"

Right on cue, Moka and Tsukune were interrupted by Kurumu and the others.

"Moka, don't you think you're sucking Tsukune's blood too often? Don't tell me he looks so weary right now because of that!"

"It's not her fault." said Tsukune "I was up late doing my homework."

"Homework? Since when do spend so much time doing homework that you're this tired."

"Since I don't want to have to worry about it on this trip."

"Ah… You want to spend that much more time with me!" said Kurumu hugging him.

"No… He wants to spend time with me." said Mizore.

"No, he wants to spend time with me!" said Yukari.

"WILL YOU GUYS KNOCK IT OFF!"

Tsukune's eyes actually glowed when he screamed, the others actually jumped back a bit. It took Tsukune a minute to cool down.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to frighten you."

"You need to be careful Tsukune." said Ruby "Controlling your ghouldom means controlling your temper… which is why the headmaster told me to keep an eye on you."

"Everyone!"

Ms. Nekonome came riding up in the bus.

"Let's hurry up and get going. We've got a long drive ahead of us."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Does it look we're there yet?"

"Are we there yet?"

"SHUT UP! Who invited you anyway?"

"Well duh, this field trip is for the newspaper club, and I'm the freaking president." replied Gin.

"Well… do you really think that asking if we're there yet every five seconds is going to help us get there any quicker?"

"Sorry… I'm just so darn bored."

"Well, then find a way to entertain yourself… without being a pervert."

Tsukune spent a great deal of the trip sleeping. It wasn't until they stopped for lunch that he woke up.

"Hey Tsukune! I've been learning Italian, would you like to see?"

"I guess…"

"Why is Kurumu trying to learn Italian?" asked Mizore.

"I think it's because Tsukune's predecessor was Italian, and it's a cheap attempt to impress him." said Yukari.

"Ready…Ciao il mio schiavo di amore, so che volete giocare la scanalatura del manzo con i vostri tentacoli, ma se tu mi lasci mangiare un po 'la materia fecale aromatizzati zucchero filato e il sacrificio di un elefante del bambino, tutti possiamo avere vaiolo del mattino."

After hearing this, Tsukune fell out of his chair and started rolling around on the floor laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You!"

"What did I do?"

"Seriously, do you have any idea what you just said?"

"I asked you if you wanted to go swimming when we got to the manor."

"Not even close. You said, and I quote… Hello my love slave, I know you want to play the beef flute with your tentacles, but if you'll just let me eat some fecal matter flavored cotton candy and sacrifice a baby elephant, we can all have smallpox in the morning."

All the others started laughing as well.

"Which word was smallpox?"

They spent almost the whole day driving, and to make matters worse it started to rain. It wasn't until about 7:30 pm that Ms. Nekonome said they were almost there.

"Err… I wanted to spend the day on the beach." said Kurumu.

"I don't think we would have gotten the chance. It's been raining since we left that last rest stop."

"I'm just glad we'll get there so we can eat, oh I'm so hungry."

"Yukari, what are you doing."

"I'm brewing a special universal antidote I read about."

"Why?"

"Because knowing us, we might need it some day."

"Well, I seriously doubt we'll need it this weekend."

"So… What kind of person is this Jessenia Esmeralda?" asked Tsukune.

"I heard she's very nice, she believes firmly that she can use her talents to help people."

"You mean magic and foresight?"

"Yes. She's never been wrong before. She once predicted that a man would find the woman who would one day be his wife within a month. She was correct right down to the day and time."

"She also has one interesting physical characteristic." said Ruby "She has birthmark in the shape of a cross in-between her… you know."

"And how do you know that?" asked Gin.

"She said so on a human talk show."

"There it is!" said Ms. Nekonome.

Tsukune and the others looked out their windows. Even though it was dark they could tell they had made it to the beach. Suddenly there was a flash of lightening, and they saw the beachside manor silhouetted against the sky and sea.

"Okay… now I'm scared."

**(To be continued)**


	3. Dinner at Esmeralda Manor

Moka was hesitant to get out of the bus at first since it was raining, and when Tsukune offered the use of his umbrella all the other girls complained about wanting to be under the umbrella with him. Needless to say it was a hassle just getting to the front door.

"Look at the size of those knockers!"

"Oh… thank you Tsukune." said Kurumu.

"That's not what I meant."

"Go on, someone ring the bell before we all catch pneumonia!" said Yukari.

When Ms. Nekonome pressed the button it sounded like huge iron bells were tolling.

"The bells! The bells!" joked Gin.

In a matter of moments the huge oak doors opened and they were greeted by a thin man wearing a suit. His hair was black, but had a few gray spots. He also had pale skin.

"Good evening , we've been expecting you." he said smiling "You are Ms. Nekonome and students, are you not?"

"We are."

"Please do come in."

They came into the house and found themselves in a huge hallway.

"Wow! This place is a lot bigger than it looks. Where will we be sleeping?"

"Madame has made individual accommodations available for you all."

"Oh poo."

"Tsukune, even though we're in different rooms, don't be depressed!" said Kurumu.

"You don't need to worry about me."

"I'll leave the room open for you… like I always do." said Mizore.

"You do realize that's against school rules, don't you?" asked Ruby.

"Er-hem…. Dinner will be at 9:00, for now I will show you to your rooms. Ogata, Emiko, help me with their bags!"

A tall boy with bushy brown hair and a woman with long purple hair in a ponytail came in. The boy was wearing a green shirt, a black leather vest, and blue jeans. The woman was wearing a cargo pants, and a black tank top under a pink mesh shirt.

"Everyone this is Ogata the beekeeper slash pool tender, and Emiko the gardener."

"Hello."

Ogata took out of piece of paper that had the word, "Hello" written on it and showed it to everyone.

"What's that all about?"

"He's mute."

"Oh… sorry… And you sir?"

"I'm Ulysses, the butler."

Ulysses led them up the stairs to their rooms, they didn't get far before they heard crying.

"Is that a baby?" asked Moka.

"That would be the maid's daughter, nothing to worry about. Ah here we are, Tsukune Aono is it? You'll be staying in here."

Dinner still wasn't ready by the time everyone was shown to their rooms, so Ulysses took them on a tour of the house. There was an indoor pool, a room full of guns that according to Ulysses were collected by the late Mr. Esmeralda, a game room, ball room, and so forth. Finally they made it to the library.

"WOW! Look at all this cool stuff!"

There was a lot more than just books in the library. There were medieval weapons mounted on the wall, there were suits statues of certain historical and fictional characters, and in the center of the room was a sword lodged in a stone and anvil. Upon it was an inscription.

Whoso pulleth oute this swerd of this stone and anvyld is rightwys kynge borne of all brytaygne

"If you ask me, whoever inscribed that sword needs to go back to school." said Kurumu.

"My dear, it's in the old English. It's is an exact replica of the sword in the stone from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, one of the late Mr. Esmeralda's favorites."

"I see." said Yukari "Is that statue over there of King Arthur himself?"

"Indeed it is, and he's holding his pride and joy, Excalibur."

"Wait… It's not the same as the sword on the display." said Moka.

"You must not have read Malory's book my dear. According to him the sword that Arthur pulled from the stone which proved he was the righteous King, and Excalibur where too different swords. He received Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake."

Suddenly they all heard the sound of a gong.

"Ah, dinner."

They all started to walk out when they heard something else. They turned around and saw Gin playing with the sword from the display.

"Look at me everybody! I'm the king of England!"

"Put that down!"

Ulysses led them all to the dinner room where everything was ready.

"Where's Ms. Nekonome?"

"Your teacher has temporarily left the house; apparently she didn't like it when I told her there wouldn't be fish on tonight's menu."

"That's Ms. Nekonome for you." said Ruby.

"Where's Mrs. Esmeralda?"

"Madame is unavailable at the moment, but she said she will join you after dinner."

"What kind of host doesn't eat dinner with quests?"

"She's a little indisposed. Tonight is the sixth anniversary of her husband's death."

"Oh… I'm sorry I didn't know… Is that him?"

Yukari was pointing to a painting on the wall. It was of a very handsome man.

"Yes it is… I remember their wedding all too well… They were so happy and full of hope… It's just so terrible that he died almost a year after they were married."

"How did he die?" asked Tsukune.

"It was in this very house on a night like this… He had been shot with one of his own guns."

"You mean suicide?" asked Mizore.

"That's what the police said, but Madame insists that it wasn't. She didn't see any reason for him to take his own life. They had talked about starting a family, still… he may have just been playing her until he took his own life."

"What was he like?"

"He was a surgeon. It's a bit ironic actually… He could save others, but not himself."

At that moment the other door in the dining room opened.

"Soups on!" sang a voice.

The young woman that was carrying the soup had long beautiful blonde hair.

"Ladies and gentlemen this is Izumi, the maid."

"She's the maid?" whispered Moka.

"I know." replied Tsukune "She looks awful young to be a mother… she doesn't look a day over 19."

"This isn't shark fin soup, is it?"

"Certainly not." said Ulysses "Madame is very keen strict about protecting those particular marine carnivores. It is alphabet soup."

After taking their seats, Tsukune waited until both Izumi and Ulysses had left the room before he spoke.

"I think I speak for us all when I say, something is very wrong here. Point one: Why would the world's most famous witch invite us, a bunch of teenagers she has never met before, to her house for a weekend field trip? Point two: Why would she invite us here on the sixth anniversary of her husband's death of all nights?"

"Wait!" said Mizore "Point three: Look in soup bowl."

They all leaned over and looked in the soup bowl. Some of the letters had arranged to form a word.

**B E W A R E**

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out now!" said Kurumu.

Tsukune quickly smelled the soup.

"I don't smell anything out of the ordinary."

"I… think I've got to go to the bathroom." said Gin.

"Time for the main course, macaroni & cheese and smoked sausage!" sang Izumi as she came in.

"Never mind, I can hold it."

Everyone except Gin didn't take a bite until Tsukune was sure it wasn't tainted.

"Ulysses, was this one of Mr. Esmeralda's favorites?"

"It was indeed sir. Our cook Ms. Yashagumi used to make it for him almost three times a month. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

About ten minutes later, while Ulysses and Izumi weren't in the room, Kurumu shrieked.

"What is it?"

"Guys… that picture!"

Kurumu was pointing at the painting of the late Mr. Esmeralda.

"What about it?"

"I saw the eyes move!"

"Eyes move? Kurumu, you're a bundle of nerve." said Yukari.

"This reminds me of, _And then there were none_." said Tsukune.

"What?"

"It's a novel written by Agatha Christie, I read it when I was in middle school. It's a story about ten people of different social classes who are complete strangers to each other that are invited to a mansion on an island by an unknown host. The one thing they all have in common is that they are in some way responsible for the death or deaths of other people. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling, inexorably and sometimes grotesquely, the old nursery rhyme, Ten Little Indians."

"How does it end?"

"Like I said, one by one they all die."

At that moment Izumi came in again.

"And for dessert, a delicious lemon pie!"

Gin quickly dove into the pie.

"I suppose the whipped cream is really cyanide?" he said.

"That's not funny." replied Tsukune.

Suddenly there was a bright burst of lightening and an explosion of thunder so violent it shook the room. Then they heard it.

"Good evening children, I'm your host Jessenia Esmeralda."


	4. Mrs Esmeralda's Prediction

Poof!

There was a huge cloud of smoke, then just like Mrs. Jessenia Esmeralda appeared out of thin air.

"She knows how to make an entrance, got to give her that." said Mizore.

"I don't believe it, she's so beautiful."

"Why thank you."

"It can't be…" said Gin "I thought Mrs. Esmeralda was an older woman, about seventy two or seventy three."

"Seventy seven to be exact Mr. Morioka."

"Seventy seven!" exclaimed Tsukune "Pardon me ma'am… but… you don't look a day over thirty."

"I know what you're all thinking… How do I look so young? It's very simple. Once you've mastered enough magic as I have, reversing the natural aging process becomes a piece of cake… I trust you all have been made comfortable."

"Uh… yes Mrs. Esmeralda but… we're a little surprised you actually invited us… I mean we've never met you until just now."

"But we've certainly heard of you! I mean who hasn't? You're the most famous witch in the world!"

"Yukari, let's not get off topic." said Tsukune "Now Mrs. Esmeralda… I don't mean to be rude or anything but… why exactly did you invite us here… especially on tonight of all nights… We understand today's date is a little… special for you."

Mrs. Esmeralda walked over and looked at the picture of her late husband.

"Look ma'am… I'm very sorry but…"

"I understand how you feel Tsukune Aono… But rest assured, I have my reasons, otherwise you wouldn't be here. And don't worry… my reasons are mutually beneficial."

"Well… I'm listening."

"You all attend a very prestigious school for monsters, and you are members of the newspaper club. I trust you have shared many interesting stories with the rest of your school."

"Yes we have." said Gin.

"Even though we do most if not all the work while you laze around being a pervert!" said Kurumu.

"Back to the matter at hand." said Mrs. Esmeralda "Wouldn't it be an excellent story for the Yokai Times if it's entire staff found themselves trapped in a beachside manor, completely cut off from the outside world, only to discover a dead body on the floor shot six times in the back, and only one of you able to solve the crime?"

"Well… uh… that certainly sounds interesting and all but… what are the odds of that?" asked Moka.

"Very good actually Ms. Akashiya… At the stroke of midnight, someone in this house is going to be viciously murdered."

For a few moments everyone just stared at Mrs. Esmeralda quietly.

"Okay… Well you let us know how that turns out and we'll be back in the morning." said Kurumu already getting out of her seat.

"No one is leaving this house."

"Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me!"

Kurumu ran out of the room and down the hall to the front door and ripped it open, but when she tried to run outside it was like she hit an invisible wall.

"I think you'll find that escape is impossible."

"This is outrageous!" said Tsukune coming up behind her "You can't just hold us prisoner!"

"I already have."

Mrs. Esmeralda snapped her fingers, the next thing they knew they were all seated in the living room.

"Now as I've told you all, someone in this house will be murdered at midnight, and I don't want our killer to get away, so no one is leaving this house until the crime is solved, after that you will be free to go."

"Mrs. Esmeralda, I hardly think that inviting us here for one of us to be murdered is beneficial to anyone, especially since our newspaper club isn't a profit organization."

"Besides, if someone is going to be murdered why did you invite us of all people? Wouldn't you do better to hire professional detectives or something, or stop the murder all together."

"I don't need detectives Ms. Akashiya. I have seen the future, and I know for a fact that the victim is sitting in this room at this very moment."

"Wait a minute, you know who's going to get it?" asked Gin.

"Yes."

"And you know how the crime is going to be committed?" asked Ruby

"Yes."

"And exactly what time the murder is going to take place?" asked Mizore.

"Absolutely."

"And you have no intention of preventing the murder from happening or telling us who the murderer is?"

"None whatsoever. You'll have to figure that out on your own."

"Well… If you have no intention of doing either of those things… doesn't that just mean that you're the murderer Madam Esmeralda?" asked Yukari.

"You'll see…"

"You've still failed to answer one question." said Tsukune "HOW DOES ANY OF THIS BENEFIT US!"

"I understand your reluctance Tsukune Aono… But don't worry, I'm not expecting any of you to go along with this pro bono, I've got a little prize for whoever solves the crime first. Shall we say one million American dollars?"

"…Are you kidding me?"

"Very well then… five million… That's right, five million American dollars in tax free cash to whoever solves the crime. You'll also receive all the book rights and the film sale."

"You can't be serious…" said Tsukune.

"Oh but I am… Shall I wet your appetites? I'll bet none of you have ever even seen five million dollars. Well… maybe you've seen it in movies, but rest assured… there is something lost in the translation."

Mrs. Esmeralda snapped her fingers and something appeared on her lap.

"Looks like an ordinary suitcase to me." said Kurumu.

She laughed.

"It's in the suitcase my dear."

Mrs. Esmeralda opened it.

"WOW-WEE! LOOK AT ALL THAT CASH!"

Gin jumped at it, but Mrs. Esmeralda snapped her fingers and the suitcase disappeared. Then she waved her finger at Gin.

"Not till someone solves the crime, and only one of you will get it."

She looked at her watch.

"Its 10:00 pm my pretties, only two hours until death strikes someone in this room… See you at midnight… au revoir!"

Poof!

In a puff of smoke, she was gone.


	5. Let the madness begin

For a few moments after Mrs. Esmeralda left the room, everyone just stood there staring.

"If you ask me, any widow who pays a bunch of kids she never met before five million dollars to solve a crime that hasn't even been committed yet, has lost a lot more than just her husband." said Gin.

"What do we do?" asked Moka "Just sit around and wait for one us to get killed?"

"No, we're getting out of here." said Tsukune.

"How?"

"Leave that to me."

Tsukune started to force himself to get angry like he had every night for the past month. Then his Holy Lock fell off and he transformed into a super ghoul before everyone's eyes. Then he ran to the front door and started to hammer away at barrier with his fists. When that didn't work he tried energy blasts, but it was still to no avail.

"Alright… I have no choice… stand back everyone!"

Tsukune cupped his hands together and started to focus his energy.

"Uli…kai'e'…emake…LOA!"

The huge burst of blue energy erupted out of Tsukune's hands and rocketed at the door, but much to everyone's surprise the invisible wall just swallowed it.

"Err… I don't believe it! Wait… there's still one thing I haven't tried… To me Kaiser Katana!"

The Kaiser Katana came flying down from the sky outside and toward the manor, but when it got to the door it just bounced off the barrier and fell to the ground.

"Well… it was worth a shot."

"What do we do now?" exclaimed Kurumu "I don't want to die!"

"We don't leave this room." said Yukari.

"Why not?" asked Mizore.

"Mrs. Esmeralda said that the murder victim was someone who was sitting in the living room. So if we all stay together, then the crime can't be committed without witnesses."

"Yeah! Not to mention when the she comes in it'll be eight against one! Even if she is the most famous witch in the world." said Tsukune.

"Okay… I guess we have no choice."

For awhile the kids all just sat in the living room staring out into space. The sounds of the clock were barely audible over the pouring rain and the roaring thunder.

"Look on the bright side." said the voice of Udar to Tsukune "If you solve this crime your money troubles will be over. Five million dollars will buy one hell of a ring."

"Unless I'm the victim or if she kills her."

"Oh… I forgot about that."

"Ms. Nekonome!"

"What?"

"Ms. Nekonome left the house before Mrs. Esmeralda put up that barrier! So when she comes back and finds she can't get in, she'll go for help!" said Mizore.

"Oh yeah." replied Gin "All she has to do is get the headmaster on the phone, so he can spend about twelve hours driving here, and one of us will be dead by then."

"Hey, I was just trying to be optimistic.

"Something's not right." said Ruby.

"What specifically?" asked Kurumu.

"What's happened to the servants? We haven't seen any of them since dinner."

That's when they heard it.

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

"What was that?"

"I don't know… Apparently someone or something in this house has an awful laugh."

"EEIEEKK!"

"What now?"

"Someone must be in trouble… Oh my god, Izumi!"

Tsukune and the others started running in the direction they heard the screaming, along the way they ran into Ogata and Emiko.

"Where is she?"

"The kitchen!"

They all ran to the kitchen and found Izumi with a short pudgy woman who could only be the cook.

"He's dead!"

"Who is?"

"Ulysses! He's in there!"

Tsukune and the others walked in and found Ulysses lying on the floor. There was a broken glass and a spilled drink close to him. There were also some dead honeybees.

"Oh my gosh… Look at those welts on his face."

"Is he…"

"Looks like it."

Ruby bent down and checked his pulse.

"He's dead."

"So at last, we have our murder." said Kurumu.

"Not quite." said Yukari "It's only 11:00, and Mrs. Esmeralda said the murder victim was sitting in the dining room. Ulysses wasn't in the dinning room when she said that. Finally the cause of death is wrong."

"When the barrier goes down and the storm stops, I suggest you count your bees Ogata, you may find that some of them are missing." said Mizore.

Ogata took out a piece of paper and scribbled the words, I didn't do it.

"Stung by six bees in a house, it hardly seems like an accident."

"It wasn't him." said Emiko "He and I were both upstairs just now."

"Well someone must've killed him!" said Kurumu.

"I don't understand. All the years I've worked here he never said anything about being allergic to beestings."

"Okay… What's your name?"

"I'm Ms. Ooyama."

"The cook?"

"Yes."

"You're telling me, during the time you've worked here, Ulysses never once mentioned that he was allergic to beestings, even though this house has an apiary?"

"No, he never did."

"Well he must've had a reaction, I mean look at his face, not to mention he's dead."

"Wait, what's this?" said Moka pointing at what had been the contents of Ulysses' shattered glass.

"Gin martini… shaken, not stirred." said Gin sniffing it.

"Look… Gin, did you bring your camera?" asked Tsukune.

"Yes."

"Get it."

"What for?"

"We need to take some pictures of this scene before we move anything."

"What are we moving exactly?"

"Well, we're not leaving him here in the kitchen. And someone bring me some plastic bags."

Gin took some pictures of the scene just like Tsukune asked. After that Tsukune started putting the broken glass, the remnants of Ulysses' drink, and the dead bees into different plastic bags.

"And why are we doing this?" asked Kurumu.

"I've read enough mystery novels and seen enough movies to know that even the smallest details are important when you're trying to solve a crime. So we're preserving the evidence."

"What evidence do we need? It's Mrs. Esmeralda's doing, the woman's mad!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Izumi.

"We'll explain in a moment."

The boys took Ulysses to his room and laid him in bed after they had marked the place where he had been laying then they returned to the living room with the others. It was then that Tsukune and friends explained the situation to the servants.

"Oh my god!"

"I don't believe it!"

"I should have known that woman would do something like this."

"How can you say that!" said Izumi.

"You can tell a lot about a person by the quality of the people she associates with." said Ms. Ooyama "And save for me and Ulysses, the people she associates with are nothing but trouble. The woman wasn't very pure herself."

"Mrs. Esmeralda is the kindest woman I have ever met!" said Izumi.

"My dear, your opinions mean less than nothing to me. It is only by nature that sinners defend each other."

"You… She gave you a job…"

"If it were possible, I'd leave her employment right now."

Suddenly they all heard crying.

"My baby!"

Tsukune and the others followed Izumi to the room where they found her daughter crying in her crib.

"Oh thank God… she must've just been awoken by the sound of our argument… It's okay mamma's here."

"Bring her back to the living room with us. There's already been one killing outside of Mrs. Esmeralda's prediction."

"But why was the butler killed in the first place?" asked Moka.

"Probably just to distract us from the main murder still to come."

Ms. Ooyama's attitude toward Izumi didn't seem to soften even though she had her daughter with her.

"I wonder what that was all about." whispered Moka.

"It can wait." said Kurumu "We've got bigger fish to fry."

"Izumi… I think you have a very beautiful daughter."

"Thank you… She's my pride and joy."

"Who's the father?"

"… I really don't want to talk about it."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

For awhile they all just sat there in the living room. At one point Ogata left to go to the bathroom and came back about twenty minutes later. Emiko left the room to go get some blankets and came right back. Izumi had left the room to fill her daughter's bottle. Finally the unexpected happened, the organ in the room started playing by itself.

"YIKES!"

The keys the organ was playing were completely random.

"It's okay! It's just a player organ!" said Izumi.

"Yeah, but where's the kook who's playing it?"

"That mean's it can be programmed to play by itself."

They looked inside the organ and found that it had been rigged to go off just then.

"I think I know why… It's only five minutes to midnight…"

"That's it, I'm leaving." said Ms. Ooyama.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room."

"Why?"

"I have nothing to worry about; I wasn't in here when the bitch said one person in this room would die."

Izumi flinched at Ms. Ooyama's remark.

"Pot, this kettle. Come in, over." said Emiko.

"What did you just say?"

"I said did you here about the self righteous old hag who couldn't hear."

Without saying another word Mrs. Ooyama stormed out.

"Good riddance."

"Lock the door."

"But what about the cook?" asked Tsukune.

"She'll be fine, she wasn't in here when Mrs. Esmeralda said it."

"And if she does get killed anyway it's no big loss." said Emiko.

"Okay…"

As soon as Tsukune had locked the door there was a flash of lightening and a blast of thunder. Then the lights flickered and went out.

"AGH!"

"Quiet everyone! I hear something!"

"What is it?

Tsukune couldn't hear it; Izumi's baby wouldn't stop crying.

"It's okay sweetie." she said trying not to sound worried "Everything is going to be fine."

"Everyone, get behind me!" said Tsukune.

The bell struck twelve.


	6. Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

**BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!**

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

For a few long moments there was nothing but blackness and quiet. Then Gin could no longer stand the silence.

"Okay, who's not dead? Sound off."

"I'm still here." said Ruby.

"Tsukune, are you alright?"

"It's okay Moka… I'm alive and well."

"Did anyone hear a gun?" asked Yukari.

"I didn't here anything." said Mizore.

Suddenly the lights flickered and came back on. None of the servants seemed to have been mortally wounded either.

"It's over…" said Kurumu "We're going to live!"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, there came a knock at the door.

"It must be Ms. Ooyama coming to check on us. You know what I take that back, she doesn't really care." said Emiko.

"Ms. Ooyama? Is it you? Ms. Ooyama!"

There was no answer.

"Gin… answer the door."

"Why me?"

"Because it's better you than us, and because I'll cut your you know what off if you don't." said Kurumu.

"Okay, I'm going."

Gin stepped toward the door. When he got there he hesitated, then he slowly opened it.

"Ah… Mrs. Esmeralda. You appear to be wrong. Well I guess there's a first time for everything."

"Madame did you really kill Ulysses?" asked Izumi "Madame?"

Mrs. Esmeralda fell to the floor.

"AGH!"

Tsukune and the others crowded around the fallen Mrs. Esmeralda, there were six bullet holes in her back.

"Is she dead?" asked Mizore.

"Trust me… With that much lead in her back she's a lot better off."

"Oh my god…"

"Izumi's going to faint! Somebody catch her!"

"It's okay… I've got you."

"I guess the crime was committed without witnesses after all." said Kurumu.

"How was I supposed to know that Mrs. Esmeralda was talking about herself when she said one of us was going to die?" said Yukari "I was a little more worried about my own life at the time!"

"Oh my god…" said Moka "How did it come to this? We were supposed to come here for a weekend field trip and have a great time… Now there are two dead bodies in the house!"

"Nobody move! I smell something!"

"What?"

Ever since he had become a super ghoul, all of Tsukune's senses had gotten stronger. Right now he could smell something funny in the air.

"Gun oil."

Tsukune started moving in the direction of the scent. It took him and the others up the stairs.

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

"There's that laugh again…" said Mizore sounding scared.

"Never mind that. The gun oil scent is coming from in here."

"Wait a minute… That's my room!" exclaimed Kurumu.

Tsukune kicked the door open and got ready to defend himself, but there was no one inside.

"AHA!"

There was a gun equipped with a silencer on the dresser.

"Don't touch it! That's evidence!"

"But we need to find out who did this, and we can't take fingerprints." said Mizore.

Just then Tsukune heard the voice of Udar in his head.

"On the contrary."

Tsukune's eyes started to glow an eerie purple color.

"Cool! I have ultraviolet vision!"

"Since when can you do that?" asked Moka.

"I'm figuring my powers out as I go."

Just then Moka heard her inner self speaking to her through the rosario.

"That's one thing about Tsukune I really envy… He can just turn it on and off… We can't."

Tsukune looked carefully at the gun, but he didn't see any fingerprints on it.

"The gun's a stone cold trail… A professional… or at least someone who knew what they were doing."

"Isn't it obvious? It's right here in Kurumu's room!"

"But I didn't do it! Tsukune, you believe me! Don't you?"

"Well she was with us all in the living room when the lights went out."

"Weren't we all still in the living room?"

"Wait a minute… THE COOK!"

They all raced back down the stairs. Emiko and Ogata led them to the Ms. Ooyama's room.

"It's locked!"

"Then we've got her trapped."

"Aren't we all trapped in this house until the crime is solved?" asked Yukari.

"Whatever."

"Open this door!" said Tsukune banging on it "Open this door or we'll break it down!"

There was no answer.

"Alright… Gin, on three. Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Three!" 

Tsukune and Gin charged at the door and broke it down.

"AAAGH!"

Ms. Ooyama was laying face down on her bed, and there was a huge sword sticking out of her back.

"Oh my…"

"Wait a minute… Isn't that the same sword from the display?" asked Ruby.

Tsukune went over and looked at the blade of the sword.

Whoso pulleth oute this swerd of this stone and anvyld is rightwys kynge borne of all brytaygne

"Oh my… I think I'm going to be sick…" said Moka.

Gin looked at the door that he and Tsukune had broken down together.

"Locked from the inside… That can mean only one thing… And I don't know what it is."

"Someone go get some towels or something."

"Why?"

"We don't want to get blood on her bed."

"A bit late for that, don't you think?" asked Kurumu.

"Well… Let's not let anymore blood get on the bed."

Tsukune saw that there were no fingerprints on the sword, it was a stone cold trail like the gun. After Gin took a picture of the scene they removed the sword, covered up Ms. Ooyama's wounds, and laid her under the covers.

"First Ulysses, then Mrs. Esmeralda, now this…"

"I know Moka… Who would want to kill the cook?"

Emiko started laughing.

"I think the real question is who wouldn't want to kill the cook?" 

"… What are you talking about?"

Suddenly Emiko felt a hand on her shoulder.

"EEKK!"

She spun around and saw that it was Ogata.

"Don't do that!"

Ogata looked like he was trying to scream, but being mute no words came out of his mouth.

"What now?"

He pointed back at the living room.

"Is someone in there?"

Ogata shook his head.

"Then what are you screaming about?"

Ogata slapped himself in the forehead, then he pulled Tsukune and the others back to the living room.

"GASP!"

"What is it now? Who's in there?" asked Izumi.

"Nobody."

"What do you mean?" asked Kurumu.

"No body, that's what we mean. Mrs. Esmeralda's body, it's gone!"

"Gone?"

The others came rushing in, and Mrs. Esmeralda's body was no where to be found.

"How did this happen?" asked Kurumu.

"Maybe she wasn't dead?"

"She was shot six times in the back." said Yukari "It doesn't get much deader than that."

"Hey… Maybe she turned into a zombie and walked out." said Gin.

"How can you make jokes in a time like this?" said Moka.

"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"NOBODY MOVE!" said Mizore "Stay where you are, everybody!"

"What is it?"

"I need to go get another one of my candies… I don't want to miss anything."

After Mizore had left the room Izumi did her best to calm her crying daughter. The others were trying to make sense of this all.

"I thought Mrs. Esmeralda said there was just supposed to be one murder… Not three."

"Maybe she is behind all this."

"I must admit now that her body has gone missing it certainly looks that way."

That's when they heard Mizore.

"AAGHH!"

"Oh no, what now?"

They all raced upstairs to find Mizore backed up against the wall.

"What is it?"

"LOOK!"

Just inside the door to Mizore's room was Mrs. Esmeralda's body laying on the floor, but that wasn't the worst part.

"Oh my god! She's naked!"

"Okay… You two come with me." said Tsukune taking a hold of Gin and Ogata "Girls, cover her up and place her in her room."

The girls all crowded around Ms. Esmeralda's body.

"Well she's still dead." said Yukari as she lifted Mrs. Esmeralda's hand and watched it fall to the floor.

"But where are her clothes?"

"They're not in here."

"Well they must be around here somewhere." said Moka "Dead people don't just get up and run around in the nude."

"I don't get it…" said Ruby "First they shoot her in the back six times, then they steal her body, then they steal her clothes and leave the body here for someone to find. Who would do something like that?"

"One thing is for sure… Whoever did this has no respect for the dead."

**(To be continued)**


	7. Any theories?

After placing Mrs. Esmeralda's body in her bedroom on the third floor, Tsukune and the others returned to the living room to discuss the situation.

"Gotta solve this mystery, or we're all gonna die! Gotta face our fears, cause there's no where left to hide! Running round the mansion, scared as I can be! Cause there's some psycho killer, and he' on a killing spreed!"

"Will you stop that?" said Moka.

"Sorry." said Gin "I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"Enough fooling around." said Tsukune "I suggest we get down to business and sort the facts. It is now 12:30 am Saturday morning, and there are three dead bodies in the house. We will be free to leave this mansion as soon as we solve this crime. At that point and time one of us will be five million dollars richer."

"And one of us will be going to the death chamber to be hung." said Ruby.

**(In Japan hanging is the only method of capital punishment practiced, but they don't use gallows, instead they take the convicted to a room called the Death chamber)**

"Now then… What do we know?"

"Mrs. Esmeralda predicts murder at midnight. She also predicts the victim and the correct number of gunshot wounds." said Yukari.

"But she didn't tells us that we would later find her naked body in Mizore's room." said Kurumu.

"Nor that we would find the murder weapon in yours." replied Mizore.

"She also forgot to mention that the butler and the cook were going to die as well."

"If you ask me it couldn't have happened to a nicer woman." said Emiko.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Isn't it obvious… I'm not sorry Ms. Ooyama is dead."

"And why is that?"

"She was a self righteous smug old hypocrite. If you only knew what she did to Izumi here."

"What did she do?"

Izumi hesitated before answering.

"She would put red F's in my room…"

"Red F's? You mean like in the Scarlet Letter?" asked Tsukune.

"… Yes."

"F's? I thought in the Scarlett Letter the letter was an A." said Moka

"I think she used F's instead of A's because Izumi isn't married." said Yukari.

"It was almost two years ago… I… I had sex with my boyfriend… Soon after that I realized I was pregnant… When my parents found out they…"

Tears were starting to form in Izumi's eyes. She held her baby closer to her.

"Both they and my boyfriend were going to make me do the unthinkable."

"Gasp…"

"I couldn't… My parents wanted me to kill their own grandchild… my little baby."

Moka walked over and gave Izumi a handkerchief.

"I ran away from home, but I soon realized that I had no money… I was living on the streets… Then one day Mrs. Esmeralda… She had pity on me and invited me to come home with her… That's when I met Ms. Ooyama… she hated me and the others for the same reason she hated Mrs. Esmeralda. She thought we were thoroughly unchristian… Even though I ran away from home to save my baby's life… I didn't care if Mrs. Esmeralda was a witch… She gave me a new home and a job… she was with me when I gave birth… She said I was like the daughter she never had… But now she's dead… What's going to happen to me and my baby?"

"So… You had a double motive for all three of them." said Gin.

"What did you say?"

"I imagine there might be something in Mrs. Esmeralda's will for you?"

"… Maybe… I don't know."

"Even a fraction of her fortune would buy nice home, keep the lights on for a while, and get your daughter into a nice school. And you hated the Ms. Ooyama because she didn't condone one of your sins, even though you did you best not to commit a graver one."

"Jessenia Esmeralda was the kindest person I've ever known! And yes I may have disliked Ms. Ooyama because she cloaked herself in religion when she was the most unchristian person I've ever met, but that does not make me a murderer!"

**(This is not an attack against Christians, I'm just acknowledging that some of us can be self righteous jerk. Remember, hate the sin but love the sinner, and judge others the way you want to be judged)**

"Izumi, we're not saying you did it. Everyone one of us was out of that living room at one point or another, given ample opportunity to commit the crime." said Tsukune "And I believe there's more than one person with a motive."

"Yes… Emiko here used to own her own flower shop, but that was before she went out of business in the financial crisis."

"I see…" said Gin "I'm sure a little bit of Esmeralda's fortune would allow you to open a whole chain of flower shops."

Emiko was silent.

"But what did you hate so much about Ms. Ooyama?"

"Well to be perfectly frank, she didn't like me because I have friends who are homosexuals."

"Okay… Then that just leaves Ogata. What's your story?"

"I can tell you that. He dropped out of college when his parents died, squandered every penny he had. One day Mrs. Esmeralda found him living on the streets and invited him to come here and work for her. And he didn't like Ms. Ooyama because she had a habit of taking matches to that cartoon porn he loves so much."

Ogata wrote something down and handed it to Emiko.

"For the thousandth time, it's not cartoon porn, it's called hentai!"

"You all seem to be overlooking the obvious!" said Kurumu.

"And that is?"

"It was Moka!"

"Me? What did I do?"

"You know you have no chance at winning against me in the battle for Tsukune, so you're trying to get me framed for murder to get rid of me! That's why you planted that gun in my room!"

"Very interesting theory Kurumu." said Yukari "But you overlook one very important point."

"Yes?"

"It's stupid, it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" she laughed.

"Do you have a better explanation?"

"Yes, that you're the killer, that's why the gun was in your room."

"It was planted there! And you're awfully quick to accuse me Yukari, maybe you're the killer!"

"That's absurd. If I was the killer I would have killed you first."

"People! This isn't getting us anywhere!" said Tsukune.

"Well someone in this room must've killed Mrs. Esmeralda." said Mizore.

"What if she did it herself?" suggested Ruby.

"She murdered herself? Why, and how?"

"The motive is simple, love! She must've realized that her husband did indeed commit suicide, but even so she wanted to be with him, and since she loved him so much, the fact that she had to die for it would be a small price to pay. As for how, anyone who could be so skilled in magic to keep even Tsukune stuck in this house, could certainly use her magic to shoot herself in the back six times and make the gun appear somewhere else."

"There are a few things wrong with your theory Ruby." said Tsukune "If she was just going to commit suicide, then why did she kill the butler and the cook as well?"

"For good measure?"

"Second; if she was going to kill herself, then why did she invite us all here to her mansion and put five million dollars up for grabs so that we solve the circumstances of her death? Even more, why would she invite a bunch of school kids like us instead of professional detectives?"

"I don't know about suicide… But I think I know why Mrs. Esmeralda would pay you five million dollars. Maybe she thought that one of you needs the money. Ogata, Emiko, Ms. Ooyama, and myself were all disadvantaged people that she took in when we had nowhere else to go, and she firmly believed that her talents could be used to help people."

"Well… That explains a lot."

"But it doesn't explain Mrs. Esmeralda's death."

"Maybe she wasn't the one who committed suicide, maybe it was the cook!" said Mizore.

"The cook?"

"Yes… Ms. Ooyama hated her employer because she was a witch, but she never quit because she couldn't find work anywhere else. But maybe she interpreted her religious beliefs a different way. Maybe she killed Ulysses to earn a bigger portion of whatever she left her servants in her will. She chose him specifically because he had served Mrs. Esmeralda the longest, and was therefore more of a sinner than anyone else. Then she killed Mrs. Esmeralda herself. But then in a moment of conscious she realized that no matter her intentions she had committed the same mortal sin twice, and in a misguided act of justice she took her own life."

"I don't think so." said Gin.

"Why not?"

"She was stabbed in the back. If you're going to kill yourself with a sword, knife, or whatever you'd usually stab yourself from the front. Besides, to run through a person like that with such a dull blade you'd need a powerful arm… and the cook's arms don't look that powerful to me."

"In any case, I believe we were all in the dinning room when Mrs. Esmeralda's death occurred." said Moka.

"Izumi, Ogata, Emiko, is there anyone else in the house?" asked Tsukune.

"Not that we know of."

"Maybe Ms. Nekonome never left the house!" said Gin.

"Ms. Nekonome? She hardly strikes me as homicidal." replied Moka.

"Nevertheless we should split up and search the house." said Tsukune.

"Split up?"

"It will be sometime before help arrives. And even then we'll all be taken into custody for questioning… or worse. But if they arrive and we just hand over the murderer then we'll save ourselves a lot of trouble."

"But if there is no one else in the house then what do we look for?" asked Kurumu.

"Clues of course, any kinds of clues." said Gin "Like let's start here in the clues closet…. Nope, no clues here."

"That is the worst joke I've ever heard."

"Wait, what if one of us is the murderer?" asked Izumi "If we split up then whoever is left with the killer might get killed!"

"I don't think so. Because then we would know who the murderer is."

"I call Tsukune!" said Kurumu jumping on him.

"No! Tsukune's coming with me!" said Yukari.

"No, he really wants to come with me." said Mizore.

"STOP!"

Ever since Tsukune became a super ghoul, the girls always jumped when he screamed like that.

"There is only one fair way to do this. We will draw lots for partners. Yukari, can I burrow your hat?"

Tsukune took a marker and wrote numbers down on pieces of paper. Then he folded them, put them in Yukari's hat, and mixed them up.

"Okay… One and two together, three and four, five and six, seven and eight, nine and ten."

"I suggest that one and two search the basement and so on up." said Izumi.

One by one they all picked one piece of paper out of the hat.

"Tsukune, did you get five?" asked Kurumu.

"No, I'm three. Who has four?"

"I do." said Moka.

"You are f***ing kidding me." said Kurumu.

In the end Yukari and Ruby were matched together and would search the basement, Tsukune and Moka would search the first floor, Mizore and Kurumu would search the second floor, Emiko and Izumi would search the third floor, and Gin and Ogata would search the attic.

"Why do I get stuck with jug head?" asked Gin.

"Before we go anywhere, I suggest we lock the room where Mr. Esmeralda's gun collection is and at the library since there are so many medieval weapons in there. There's a homicidal maniac about."

"That's a good idea, but where are the keys?"

"I got them from Mrs. Esmeralda's room when we… made her comfortable."

After making sure that both the gun room and the library were locked Tsukune threw the keys outside. They might not have been able to leave the house until the crime was solved, but apparently that didn't include inanimate objects.

"Okay, now let's get on with it. Remember, if anything bad happens, scream."

"But Ogata is mute."

"Then just make lots of noise."

**(To be continued)**


	8. Clueless

Yukari and Ruby stood at the doorway to the basement. They didn't see any light switches on the stairs, and it was very dark.

"Do you want to go first?"

"No way."

"Well neither do I."

"Okay, we'll rock paper scissors for it."

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Oh great…"

Ruby crept down the stairs.

"If there's anyone down here… Just look out!"

At the bottom of the staircase she found the light switch.

"Whoa…"

"What is it?"

"You better take a look at this…"

"What are you talking about? Oh… wow."

"It's like we died and went to witch heaven."

Apparently the basement was where Mrs. Esmeralda kept all her magical items. Ruby and Yukari were tempted to see what her research had yielded, but they know there were more important matters to attend to.

"Do you see any places where someone could hide?"

"There's another door."

"Okay… ready… ha!"

Ruby pulled the door open. It was some kind of freezer.

"No killers in here, just potion ingredients by the look of things."

"Wow! Look at this! The hair of an albino werewolf!"

"We really should be looking for clues."

"I know, but you as much as I do how rare this is."

While Ruby and Yukari were searching the basement, Tsukune and Moka were searching the ground floor. Moka was glad to have been paired with Tsukune, she just wish it didn't have to be for investigating a triple homicide.

"Tsukune…"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you scared?"

"A little, but something tells me that since I'm a super ghoul, I'm scarier than anything we're going to find in this old house."

"… Does it hurt? I mean… when you transform."

"Every time."

Moka should have guessed that. What did you think it feel like if you had a bizarre costume come crawling out of your skin like that?

"I still can't believe this is happening."

"Me neither. I don't think any of us signed up for a weekend with three gruesome murders, but if I've learned one thing from all we've been through, it's that sometimes life is really weird… Wait a minute!"

Tsukune and Moka both stopped where they were.

"Do you smell it?"

"… Yes."

"I thought it was just lingering from before… but it's stronger than that… I think it's in the dinning room."

Tsukune and Moka crept over to the dinning room. Tsukune peaked inside and there was no sign of the killer or a fresh corpse, but that wasn't what interested him at the moment.

"Look… by Mr. Esmeralda's portrait."

There were some dried up splatters of blood in front of the painting. Both Tsukune and Moka's sniffed them.

"It's Mrs. Esmeralda's, about a half hour old."

"Hmm… So that means at about midnight Mrs. Esmeralda came down here to the dining room for one last look at her late husband, that's about when the light's went out. Then in the dark the murderer snuck up behind her, and shot her… So we know how she died, where, with what, and when. But we don't know who killed her or why."

Tsukune and Moka went to Mrs. Ooyama's room next.

"Based on what Gin told us, I think we can safely rule out suicide."

"But how did the murderer get in here?"

"I know… At first I thought the murderer could have hidden in the closet, but that was before Gin pointed out that the door was locked from the inside."

"I see… If the door was locked from the inside, then how did the murderer get out?"

"Well… the way I see it there are two possibilities. One: our murderer has the ability to walk through walls. Two: there's a secret passage in here somewhere."

Tsukune and Moka went back into the hall. Tsukune started tapping the wall looking for a hollow spot.

"Wait a moment…"

There was a large portrait of what appeared to be one of Mrs. Esmeralda's ancestors. It was easily big enough to be a door. He gently pressed his hand against it and it started to move.

"Bingo."

Tsukune and Moka went through the secret passage and soon found themselves in Ms. Ooyama's closet.

"I can't believe Moka got to go with Tsukune, I just don't believe it! Tsukune is my soul mate, I should be the one who gets to go with him!" said Kurumu.

"You're foolish to think that Tsukune is yours?" said Mizore "We all know in the end it will be me that he marries."

"What is with your obsession with that boy?"

"You'd never understand, and shouldn't you be on the next floor?" said Kurumu to Emiko.

"Yes, but thanks to you, Izumi and I can't hear ourselves think."

Emiko went back upstairs and left Mizore and Kurumu alone.

"So… how do you think Mrs. Esmeralda's body ended up in my room?"

"I don't know, I'm not a detective. I'm a succubus who lives for love! And right now the man I love is downstairs with a blood sucking vampire!"

"I case you've forgotten, Tsukune is something of a blood sucker himself… ever since his transformation."

"Yes… a super ghoul, and that doesn't bother your mother in the least?"

"No." replied Mizore "She thinks it will be nice to have such a big strong man protecting the tribe… and me."

"Well you're going to be disappointed, because Tsukune is going to marry me! We need to create a lot of strong little succubi to ensure our race's future… And I'm going to enjoy every moment of it." she said blushing.

"Shouldn't we be looking for clues?"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm fantasizing!"

Emiko and Izumi were searching the third floor. There wasn't much up there besides the master bedroom, the balcony, and the best bathroom in the house.

"Keep your eyes peeled for a blue paw print." said Izumi to her daughter.

"What?" asked Emiko.

"It's a joke."

"I don't get it."

The whole time they were searching Izumi never took her eyes of Emiko.

"I'm not the killer." she finally said.

"But you have more of a motive than anyone else still alive. You only came here to work as a gardener after you lost your flower shop business."

"Between you and me Izumi, I don't miss it."

"Don't give me that. You were heartbroken about it when we first met."

"Sure I was then, but after awhile I realized that there are perks to be being a humble gardener."

"Such as?"

"Well since I started living with our late employer, I have had a lot less bills to worry about. I've no longer had to worry about clearing expenses. I've no longer had to spend gas money driving to work, I get three square meals a day, and at the end of a long day I can enjoy a nice dip in the pool."

"Well… I didn't do it."

"You don't need to convince me. Mrs. Esmeralda was your savior, and you enjoy the very same perks that I do. I'll bet she would even have been willing to help send your little girl to school."

"So… Who do you think the killer is?"

"Ulysses and Ms. Ooyama are dead, I know I didn't do it, I'm pretty sure you didn't either, and none of those other kids have a motive since they've never even met Mrs. Esmeralda until this evening, so who does that leave?" she said smiling.

Up in the attic, Ogata handed Gin a note that said, "Congratulations, you've destroyed a stuffed bear."

When Gin and Ogata had entered the attic they couldn't find the light switch. As a result Gin had mistaken a big stuffed bear for the killer and tackled it to the ground.

"Why did I get stuck with you as search partner?"

Ogata handed him a note that read, "We drew lots."

"There were seven girls and three boys, odds were I should have been paired up with a girl. Hell I would have even taken that fruity gardener, at least she wasn't mute!"

The attic was full of dust covered antiques and miscellanea, but Gin and Ogata couldn't find a single clue as to who was behind the gruesome events that had been going on in the house.

"Well… I guess we better find the others and tell them there's nothing up here."

Ogata handed Gin another note. This time it read, "I've got a better idea. Wait here and I'll go get my portable DVD player and a really sweet flick I bought last night."

"You mean from your private stash?" asked Gin suddenly sounding excited

Ogata nodded.

"You've got yourself a deal."

Ogata went back down the stairs. Gin stood there in the attic and waited for about seven minutes, then suddenly the lights went out.

"What the?"

Gin heard screaming coming from downstairs.

"Wait a minute… What if he's the murderer? Mrs. Esmeralda's fortune would certainly buy a lot of hentai. Don't worry girls! It's Gin to the rescue!"

Gin started running, and then in the dark he stumbled down the stairs to the third floor.

"Ow… I'm going to feel that tomorrow."

Then he heard it.

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

**(To be continued)**


	9. Acquitted Too late

The lights went out.

"AGH! Tsukune!"

"It's okay, I'm right here!"

There was a flash of lightening, Tsukune saw Moka and jumped in front of her making a human shield.

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

Tsukune heard someone running around upstairs. After that everything was quiet for about five minutes, then the lights came back on.

"AAAHHH!"

"Someone's in trouble!"

Tsukune and Moka started to make their way for the stairs. Along way Ruby and Yukari hurried up and out of the basement and ran into them.

"Hey! Don't touch me there!" said Tsukune.

"Sorry."

"AAHHH! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

After getting out of their little scramble they ran up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" asked Yukari.

When they reached the second floor they found Mizore, Gin, Izumi, and Emiko already there.

"It's Kurumu!"

"Where is she?"

"She's in Gin's room, the door's locked!"

"So unlock it!"

"It's locked from the inside!"

"Just unlock it!"

"I can't unlock it from out here!"

"Let us in! Let us in!"

"GET ME OUT! GET ME OUT!"

"Wait! I have it!"

Mizore pointed at the door knob and froze it. Then she turned her hands into icy claws and shattered it.

"Come out, the door is open."

"I can't move!"

They went inside and everybody gasped.

"Don't ask me!"

"What are you doing in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes?" asked Izumi.

"I SAID DON'T ASK ME!"

Kurumu was dressed in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes and her limbs were all chained together. Kurumu's own clothes were no where to be found. Mizore froze the chains and Tsukune ripped them apart.

"Well… You do look good in that outfit." said Gin.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY! I COULD HAVE BEEN RAPED! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"

"We're Ogata?" asked Emiko.

"He left me in the attic a few moments before the lights went out."

"We saw him come down and go down to the second floor." said Izumi.

"And we saw him go down stairs as well." said Mizore.

"He must've been going to his room for some of his… stuff."

"Or he was just going to the fuse box to shut off the lights."

They all went down to the ground floor to look for Ogata.

"Where are you, you great big pig?"

"AAHHH!"

"What now?" thought Moka.

"Guys… I… found him."

Ogata was lying on the floor in his room next to an open drawer that contained his hentai collection. The back of his head had been crushed and ripped open in small areas. There was a bloody medieval mace a few feet away from him.

"Is that the same mace from the library?" asked Emiko.

"But it was locked!"

They ran to the library and found the door open and the mace missing from it's display. But there were no signs of forced entry.

"I thought we threw the key away." said Mizore.

"We did. Someone else must've had one." replied Yukari.

"Izumi, Emiko, did either of you have a key that you didn't tell us about?"

"No." they both replied.

"Then who did?"

"Only Ulysses."

They went to Ulysses' room and pulled back the sheets on his bed.

"Sorry to disturb you Ulysses, we mean no disrespect, this is an emergency."

"Just check the dead butler's pockets already." said Kurumu.

"Could you please not say dead butler? It's bad enough I have to put my hands in his pockets."

Tsukune locked in Ulysses' pockets, but found nothing.

"Okay… Moka, search everybody."

"Wait a minute! Why does Moka get to search us?"

"Because she was with me on the first floor when everything happened, so she couldn't have done it… I'll search…. Wait a minute… Where's Gin?"

They found him still in Ogata's room. He was admiring some of the boy's magazines.

"You pervert!" said Kurumu slapping him in the back of the head.

Ruby looked at the open page in the magazine.

"Wow… nobody can get into that position."

Everyone was searched; no one had the key on their person. Apparently the murderer had hidden it somewhere.

"Okay… Kurumu, what exactly happened just now?"

"… Well… Mizore and I were searching the second floor, not finding anything. Suddenly the lights went out. In the dark someone came at me and threw me into Gin's room. I heard them lock the door, and then… and then… Oh my god!"

"He or she chained you up, stripped you, and redressed you in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes."

"… Yes… and when the lights came back on I saw what I was wearing, so I screamed for help."

"And we couldn't get in because the door was locked from the inside… This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Well it does shed some light on our problem." said Yukari.

"What do you mean?"

"This means that the murderer has to be someone who knew that Ulysses had a key."

"Or someone who deduced that he had one out of reasoning." said Tsukune.

For a few moments they all just stood there looking at each other.

"I think I know." said Kurumu.

"I haven't the least doubt." said Yukari.

"I'm pretty sure." said Mizore.

"I haven't a clue." said Moka.

"Well… We aren't going to know for sure if we just keep standing around here." said Tsukune.

**(To be continued)**


	10. Cracking Down

Since they didn't want anyone to be left alone in the house, Gin was paired with Ruby and Yukari in the basement.

"Crocodile saliva… ear wax from an African elephant… dragon scales? What do you witches use this stuff for?"

"Making potions and for performing spells, duh." said Yukari.

"One more thing, where do you people get all this crap anyway?"

"Classified information." replied Ruby.

While Kurumu and Mizore were on the second floor searching each others rooms, Izumi and Kurumu were upstairs talking about which of the supposedly innocent school kids they thought was the killer. Meanwhile Tsukune and Moka were in the library. The murderer had to have gone in there to get the mace that he or she used to kill Ogata, so it was the best place to look for clues.

"Four murders… It's almost more than I can bear!"

"Steady Moka… We can't lose our grip now."

"Tsukune… just promise me we'll both get out of this alive."

"We will Moka… I'd never let anything happen to you... We are…"

"Tsukune…"

"Moka…"

"Tsukune…"

"Moka…"

"Tsukune… I'm suddenly very thirsty."

"Moka?"

"Just a little… please?"

"… Okay."

"Thank you… Tsukune… CAPUCHU!"

Tsukune had thought that his metamorphosis into a super ghoul would have changed the way Moka thought about his blood, but instead of a negative effect she seemed to enjoy it a lot more.

"Too much?"

"I'm fine Moka… Wait!"

"What? What is it?"

"Look!"

Tsukune was pointing at a book on one of the shelves. It was among the books that looked like they had belonged to the late Mr. Esmeralda. It had a bookmark sticking out of it.

"What is it? It looks like a book any surgeon might have in their library."

"But Mr. Esmeralda has been dead for six years, so why would there be a bookmark in one of his books?"

"Maybe they never took it out?"

"Or it could be a clue."

Tsukune took the book out off the bookcase and opened it to the marked page.

"What is it?"

"It talks about beta blockers, a class of drugs used for various indications depending on the one being used, but particularly for the management of cardiac arrhythmias, cardioprotection after a heart attack, and hypertension… Wait a minute… two of the listed drugs are circled… Metoprolol and atenolol."

Tsukune flipped to the book's index to see if he could find anything on those two drugs.

"Metoprolol and atenolol are both commonly available beta blockers that are used to treat arrhythmias and other cardiac diseases."

"What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure."

As Tsukune placed the book back he noticed the dust around another book had been disturbed.

"… The Art of War? What's this doing with a bunch of physicians books? "

As Tsukune pulled the book, the whole bookcase moved with it. Behind it was an elevator door.

"I can't believe it…"

"Where do you think it goes?" asked Moka.

"Only one way to find out."

Tsukune and Moka went inside the elevator and pressed the button at the top. When the doors opened they found themselves in the master bedroom on the third floor where the late Mrs. Esmeralda was laying in bed.

"I wonder were else it goes."

Tsukune and Moka pressed the second button, when the door opened they found themselves in Gin's room on the second floor.

"Moka… I think we've figured out how the murderer got out of here even though the door was locked."

"There's still one more destination we haven't tried."

"It probably goes to the basement… but just to be sure."

The elevator seemed to be going down for awhile before it finally stopped. When the door opened it was so dark that Tsukune and Moka couldn't see anything.

"Is… is there anyone hiding in there?" asked Moka.

Tsukune left the elevator and started feeling around in the darkness until he found the lightswitch. When the lights came on he saw that the room was a lot bigger than he and Moka expected.

"Let's see… shelves of dust covered cans of non perishable food items, a few books and other means of entertainment, and a couple NBC suits… This looks like an old bomb shelter."

Tsukune and Moka searched the room, but there was no one else inside.

"Tsukune…"

"Yes Moka?"

"You said at dinner that in middle school you read a book about ten people who are killed in a manner paralleling an old nursery rhyme?"

"Yes, Agatha Christie's _And then there were none._"

"I was just curious… How does the nursery rhyme go?"

"Well… It goes like this… Ten little Indians went out to dine;  
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indians sat up very late;  
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indians traveling in Devon;  
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indians chopping up sticks;  
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Indians playing with a hive;  
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indians going in for law;  
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indians going out to sea;  
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indians walking in the zoo;  
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indians sitting in the sun;  
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian left all alone;  
He went and hung himself and then there were none."

"That's barbaric… How can they call that a nursery rhyme?"

"I know the ending is a real turn off, but there is another ending to that Ten little Indians rhyme, one they often use in stage and film adaptations of the book."

"How does it go?"

"One little Indian left all alone, he got married, and then there were none."

"I like that ending better."

"So do I… Wait a minute…"

Tsukune was quiet for about five minutes.

"What is it?"

"Moka, I think we better have a look upstairs."

As soon as they were back on the ground floor Tsukune went to the kitchen.

"What are you looking for?"

"A medicine cabinet… Here we are."

Tsukune started looking at the contents of the cabinet.

"AHA!"

"What is it?"

Before Tsukune could answer, the lights went out.

**(To be continued)**


	11. Who's left?

The lights went out and the kitchen door slammed shut behind Tsukune and Moka.

"AAH!"

Tsukune jumped in front of Moka to protect her, but then he heard footsteps running in the opposite direction and up the stairs. Then they both heard screaming.

"Oh no! The others!"

Tsukune and Moka ran to the door, but it was locked from the outside.

"Okay then… I'll just have to blast it open!"

Tsukune's Holy lock broke off and he transformed into a super ghoul. He then blasted the door open with a sphere of energy. The house may have been dark, but it wasn't completely dark since it had stopped raining and the moon came out.

"GET US OUT OFF HERE!"

Tsukune ran to the basement door pulling Moka along. He found the door locked and blew it open.

"Oh, it's only you." said Yukari.

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

"There's that laugh again!"

"It came from upstairs!"

Tsukune, Moka, Ruby, Yukari and Gin ran upstairs.

"Who's there?"

"Kurumu it's us! Where's Mizore?"

"I'm right here! Someone locked us in different rooms. I used my ice powers to get us out."

Just then they all heard crying coming from upstairs.

"Oh my god, Izumi!" exclaimed Moka.

They all ran upstairs, Izumi was on the floor foaming at the mouth. Her baby was crying beside her.

"OH MY GOD! SHE'S BEEN POISONED!"

"WITH WHAT!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"WAIT A MINUTE! KEEP HER HEART BEATING, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" said Yukari running back down the stairs using her wand as a flashlight.

Moka took Izumi's daughter in her hands and tried to calm her. Tsukune knelt down on top of Izumi and starting performing CPR. In a matter of moments Yukari came running back up the stairs with a bottle in her hand. She put it to Izumi's mouth trying to get her to drink it.

"Is she…"

"Give it a minute."

"What did you give her?"

"The universal antidote I was making earlier. I told you we'd need it some day."

Izumi's daughter was still crying.

"It's okay…" said Moka "Everything's going to be fine."

It took a minute, but Tsukune saw Izumi's eyes flicker back to life.

"My baby… Where's my baby?"

"Thank God! You're alive!"

"Your baby's okay." said Moka handing her over.

"Did you see him?" asked Tsukune.

"No, he snuck up behind me in the dark and shoved it into my mouth."

"Where's Emiko?"

Before Izumi could answer, there was a sound of shattering glass and a loud splash.

"What was that?"

"That sounded like it came from downstairs!"

Tsukune and the others started running down the spiral staircase they had made it down to the second floor when…

BLAM!

Tsukune and all the others froze on the spot.

"Is everyone okay?"

"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" screamed Izumi.

"Calm down!"

"No! I have no intention of calming down! I was almost killed a few moments ago, and now someone is shooting at us! I can't take anymore scares."

"LOOK OUT!" said Kurumu.

The others looked up in time to see the chandelier that had been hanging from the ceiling way up on the third floor come falling down to the floor. They all jumped against the wall.

CRASH!

Izumi's baby started crying again, and Izumi started crying with her.

Tsukune noticed that he was holding Moka's rosario in his hands. He accidentally pulled on it when they jumped against the wall. Her inner self had awoken.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting."

"Someone must still be upstairs, that's our killer… Moka, come with me, the rest of you see what's happened down here, and someone turn on the lights!"

Tsukune and Moka ran back upstairs to the third floor. Tsukune ran up into the attic and Moka ran into the master bedroom.

"Nothing up there."

"And no one in here but Mrs. Esmeralda, and I she's still as dead as a doornail." said Moka.

At that moment the lights came back on.

"Tsukune, Moka, get down here!"

Tsukune and Moka ran back down to the ground floor. They found the others in the pool room. There was a huge hole in the glass ceiling, the broken shards were floating in the pool. There others had already fished out Emiko's body. She was all chained up and gagged.

"Five murders… and one attempt on Izumi."

"AAH!"

"What now?" asked Kurumu.

"One of you is the killer!" exclaimed Izumi.

"What are you talking about?" asked Mizore.

"I didn't do it, and there's no one else left!"

"Everybody calm down!" said Tsukune.

"Why?"

"Because… I know who did it."

"YOU DO!" they all said at once.

"Yes, and for posterity's sake, I will tell you how it was all done."


	12. Tsukune Explains Everything

"You know who did it?" asked Moka.

"But can you prove it?" asked Gin.

"Yes."

"Was it… Mrs. White… in the ballroom… with the dagger?" said Ruby.

"Who, where, and with what now?" asked Kurumu.

"Ugh… Just follow me."

Tsukune led the others to the main entrance.

"To help you understand what happened, I'll take you through the events of this evening one at a time. At about 9pm we all arrived here, it was raining and we were greeted by Ulysses, then he summoned Emiko and Ogata to help him take our bags to our rooms. After showing us to our rooms, Ulysses took us on a tour of the house, at about 9:30 Ms. Ooyama struck the gong to tell us all that dinner was ready. At that point we went into the dinning room."

Tsukune ran to the dinning room and the others followed him.

"Ulysses told us that Ms. Nekonome had left the house because fish wasn't going to be on the menu, then he told us that Mrs. Esmeralda wouldn't be joining us because she was feeling indisposed, then he revealed to us that her husband had been shot to death with one of his guns in this very house six years ago tonight. Finally we were served dinner. The first course was alphabet soup. I told everyone that there was something funny going on here, then Mizore confirmed my suspicions when she pointed out that in the center of the soup bowl the letters spelled out the word 'BEWARE'. Then we were served the main course, macaroni & cheese and smoked sausage. While we were eating Kurumu shrieked and told us that she saw the eyes move on the painting of Mr. Esmeralda. Desert was lemon pie."

"Get on with it!" they all said.

"I'm getting there! Any way, after we had desert there was a bright flash of lightening and an explosion of thunder, BOOM! Then Mrs. Esmeralda appeared out of thin air and introduced herself to us and said that we had been invited here to solve a murder that had not been committed, upon hearing this Kurumu ran to the front door trying to escape, but she couldn't get out because Mrs. Esmeralda had put up the magic barrier. She snapped her fingers and we all appeared in the living room!"

Tsukune ran to the living room and the others followed him.

"Once we were all in here, she revealed to us that she knew who the victim was, when and how the crime was going to be committed, and that she had no intention of stopping the murder from happening. But she didn't tell us that the victim was going to be her."

"But why didn't she try to save herself?"

"Simple… She wanted to die."

"What are you saying?"

"She missed her husband so much, and she wanted to be with him again, but… she couldn't take her own life to do it."

"Why not?" asked Gin.

"Izumi, you told us before that Mrs. Esmeralda was a good person despite popular belief, that she wanted use her powers to help people. Am I correct in thinking that she also believed in God?"

"Yes."

"I thought as much. On the bus Yukari told us that Mrs. Esmeralda had previously stated that she had a cross shaped birthmark in-between her… you know. That left an impression on her that she would only use her talents for the good of man kind. And since she believed in God she couldn't kill herself no matter how much she missed her husband, because according to Christian doctrine; taking your own life is the worst sin of all."

"Okay, but if she didn't kill herself… then who did?"

"We're getting there. After Mrs. Esmeralda revealed that she knew who the victim was, when and how the crime was going to be committed, and that she had no intention of stopping the murder from happening, Yukari asked her if she was the murderer and I asked her how this all would benefit us. At this point she revealed to us that whoever solved the crime first would receive five million dollars, and then she was gone."

"Wait a minute. If Mrs. Esmeralda was going to get what she wanted, then why did she invite us here to her house so she could pay us five million dollars to solve her murder?" asked Mizore.

"Izumi already explained that earlier this evening… In life Mrs. Esmeralda had a habit of helping people in need. Maybe she felt that one of us needed that money, and I think the person she had in mind was me."

"You? Why?" asked Moka.

"Moka, now is not the time nor the place for that discussion. Anyway, after Mrs. Esmeralda left us alone we all thought she meant the victim was going to be one of us, at which point Yukari suggested that we all stay in the living room until midnight so the crime couldn't be committed without witnesses, and for about an hour we did just that. Then we heard screaming, and it was you and Ms. Ooyama."

"Yes." replied Izumi.

"Knowing that something was wrong, we all rushed out!"

Tsukune ran to kitchen with the others close behind him.

"When we got here Ulysses lay on the floor apparently dead."

"He was dead, he had no pulse!" said Ruby.

"Exactly, and there were also several dead honeybees laying next to him, even though Ms. Ooyama told us that in all the years she worked for Mrs. Esmeralda that Ulysses had never said anything about being allergic to beestings, it must've been so because he had a nasty rash on his face, which means he must've suffered a severe allergic reaction. But Emiko told us that it couldn't have been Ogata because he was upstairs with her."

"So… whoever knew… that Ulysses was allergic to beestings… killed him?" asked Yukari.

"Yes. Then Kurumu suggested that we already had our murder victim, but you Yukari pointed out that Ulysses wasn't in the dinning room when Mrs. Esmeralda said one of us was going to die, and that the time and the cause of death were wrong. After that we gathered up all the evidence, and took Ulysses to his room and laid him in bed, then we all went back to the dinning room, this time with you Izumi and the other servants. It was then that we explained to you and the others what your employer had told us, then you all had a reaction, and Ms. Ooyama began to talk about how much she didn't like any of you, then we heard your baby screaming and went to get her, because we didn't want to take any chances since there had already been one death outside of Mrs. Esmeralda's prediction."

Tsukune and the others went back to the living room.

"We all sat in here for the next hour, during that time Ogata left to 'go to the bathroom' and didn't come back for twenty minutes."

"He was probably reading some of his hentai." said Gin.

"Probably, but Emiko also left the room to get blankets. Izumi, you went to fill your daughter's bottle, then the organ started playing by itself at five minutes to midnight, then Ms. Ooyama left and went to her room because she thought she had nothing to fear since she wasn't in the living room when Mrs. Esmeralda told us that one of us was going to die, and because she could no longer stand our company. Finally, at some point during those five minutes Mrs. Esmeralda went to the dining room to get one last look at her husband's portrait."

"How do you know she did that?" asked Kurumu.

"Because, when Moka and I were searching this floor we found splatters of her blood in there, come and see for yourselves."

Tsukune led them to the dinning room, now they could all see the dried splatters of blood by the portrait.

"And while were all still in the living room, there was another episode of thunder and lightening, then lights flickered and went out. Then the clock struck midnight, BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! As this was happening, the murderer came into the dinning room with the gun he or she had burrowed from the late Mr. Esmeralda's collection, snuck up behind Mrs. Esmeralda, and shot her! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

"But we didn't hear any gunshots." said Moka.

"That's right. Because the murderer had placed a silencer on the gun, and we didn't even hear the click because the murderer was shooting as the bell tolled. Then having fulfilled Mrs. Esmeralda's prophecy, he or she ran upstairs and placed the empty gun in Kurumu's room, then they dragged Mrs. Esmeralda's lifeless body to the living room door for us to find. All the while we stood in the dark too scared to move. After the lights came on the murderer knocked on the door so we would answer it, and went somewhere to hide."

"So who wasn't there the entire time in the living room?" asked Ruby.

"I'm getting there. So we answered the door and found Mrs. Esmeralda dead. Izumi fainted, then I smelled the gun oil coming from upstairs and we all rushed there!"

Tsukune ran upstairs to the second floor, but stopped as soon as he made it.

"But one of us wasn't here, no!"

"No?"

"No…"

Tsukune started running back down the stairs.

"While we came up here to find the gun, one of us could have stayed on the ground floor, ran to the library, picked up the sword from the display, run down the hall, and stabbed Ms. Ooyama!"

"But how did the murderer get in? The door was locked!"

"Easy, they used this secret passage!" said Tsukune showing them the wall in Ms. Ooyama's closet "It comes out in the hall at the painting of one of Mrs. Esmeralda's ancestors. Moka and I found it."

Tsukune led the others back upstairs to Kurumu's room

"So having done this horrible deed the murderer rejoined us upstairs where we found the gun in Kurumu's room with no fingerprints on it. Then we realized there was only one other person in the house."

"Ms. Ooyama!" they all said together.

Tsukune and the others ran back downstairs to Ms. Ooyama's room.

"When we got here we couldn't get in, so we broke the door down, but by now she was dead. We started to observe the scene and then I asked someone to go get some towels. But one of the people who left this room made no attempt to get any, while we were all distracted by this new development one of us returned to the dining room and took Mrs. Esmeralda's body upstairs!"

"Wait a minute… Ms. Ooyama's room was right by the stairs. Wouldn't we have seen the murderer take it upstairs?" asked Izumi.

"Not if they used the elevator in the library." said Moka.

"What elevator?"

Tsukune led the others to the library and showed them.

"And the murderer took this elevator to Gin's room on the second floor."

"That's where is comes out?" asked Kurumu.

"Yes look!"

Tsukune took them back upstairs to Gin's room and showed them the secret elevator door inside Gin's closet.

"How did you know?"

"Moka and I found this as well. It also goes to Mrs. Esmeralda's room and a bomb shelter beneath the house."

"Okay, you know way too much about all this stuff, you must be the murderer!" said Gin.

"He can't be the murderer, he was with me whenever somebody was killed." said Moka.

"Besides, if I was the murderer, why would I show you all how I did it?"

"Tsukune, I've believed you were innocent from the start!" said Kurumu giving him a hug.

"Me too!" said Mizore.

"And me!" said Yukari.

"And me!" said Ruby.

"Back to the matter at hand… The murder brought Mrs. Esmeralda's body up here, dragged her to Mizore's room, stripped her naked, hid her clothes some where, then rejoined us in Ms. Ooyama's room, it took less than five minutes. Then when we were done Ogata came to us and showed us that the body was missing, then Mizore went to her room to get another one of her candies, where she found Mrs. Esmeralda's dead body naked as a jaybird."

"Wait a minute… Maybe Gin did it!" said Kurumu.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Stripping a dead woman's body, especially someone as beautiful as Mrs. Esmeralda despite her real age, sounds like something you would do, and you could have done all this to frame Tsukune to eliminate the competition! You've been jealous of him since the day you met him!"

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." said Tsukune.

Tsukune took the others back down to the living room.

"After you girls made Mrs. Esmeralda comfortable in her room, we all came back down here to sort the facts and discuss our own theories. It was then that Emiko brought to our attention that she, Ogata, and you Izumi all had motives for killing Ms. Ooyama, Ulysses, and Mrs. Esmeralda. For Ulysses and Mrs. Esmeralda it was about inheriting her fortune and getting a bigger portion of it, for Ms. Ooyama it was that and because you all hated her. Then Kurumu came up with the preposterous theory that the murderer was Moka. Yukari said that Kurumu could be the killer since the gun was in her room and she was trying to frame Moka. Kurumu in turn accused Yukari, who denied it saying that if she was the killer she would have killed Kurumu first."

"Get on with it!"

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there! Then Ruby suggested that maybe Mrs. Esmeralda did it herself. Izumi explained that Mrs. Esmeralda invited us here to solve the crime on the grounds that she knew one of us needed the money, then Mizore suggested that the cook could've killed Mrs. Esmeralda and Ulysses, then in a misguided act of justice killed herself. Next Gin suggested that maybe it was Ms. Nekonome who maybe never left the house at all, then I suggested that we split up and search the house. We drew lots, Ruby and Yukari went to the basement, Moka and I stayed here on the ground floor, Mizore and Kurumu went to the second floor, Emiko and Izumi went to the third floor, and Gin and Ogata went to the attic."

"But before we all split up I suggested that we lock all the rooms that contained weapons." said Izumi.

"Yes, and you had gotten the keys from when you and the others put Mrs. Esmeralda in her room. So we locked the library and the room with Mr. Esmeralda's gun collection, then we went to the front door to throw away the keys."

"So… How did the murderer kill Ogata?"

"First, the murderer had to get a weapon. So one of us got away from his or her partner, and while Moka and I were searching the dining room he or she went to Ulysses' room and stole the set of keys that he had in his pockets. Then while Moka and I were in Ms. Ooyama's room, the murderer went to the library, unlocked it with the key, took out the mace, then saw Ogata coming down the stairs. Ogata went to his room to get some of his hentai, the murderer crept up behind him, and killed him!"

"This is incredible!" said Mizore.

"Not anywhere near as incredible as what happened next. The murderer ran to the fuse box, and switched off the lights!"

Tsukune ran to the fuse box and did just that. The others screamed, then Tsukune turned the lights back on.

"In the dark, the murderer ran upstairs, threw Kurumu into Gin's room, locked his or herself inside with her, chained her up, stripped her naked, redressed her in Mrs. Esmeralda's clothes which he had hidden, and escaped through the secret elevator back into the library!"

"But why did the murderer do all that?"

"The same reason he or she stripped Mrs. Esmeralda and put her in Mizore's room in the first place, to create confusion."

"It worked." said Moka.

"After we found Ogata's body we were all searched for the keys and found nothing because the murderer had already hidden them, but we knew that the murderer had to be someone who knew that Ulysses had a spare set of keys."

The others all looked at Izumi.

"I didn't do it!" she exclaimed.

"But you were the person who told us that Ulysses had a spare set, and now Emiko is dead." said Yukari.

"But I didn't do it!"

"Why should we believe you?" asked Mizore.

"Because she was poisoned after the lights went out again, don't you remember?"

"Well… if Izumi didn't do it… who did?" asked Kurumu.

"We're almost there. Now then… uhh… Moka, where was I?"

"You said we had all been searched for the keys."

"Oh right. Kurumu told us what had happened to her upstairs. Then we all split up again, this time Gin went with Ruby and Yukari. Moka and I went to the library to look for clues."

Tsukune ran to the library and the other's followed.

"While we in here, I found this, one of Mr. Esmeralda's old books with a bookmark sticking out of it."

"So?"

"He's been dead for six years, so why would one of his books have a bookmark in it on a page about beta blockers?"

"What?"

"A class of drugs used for various indications depending on the one being used, but particularly for the management of cardiac arrhythmias, cardioprotection after a heart attack, and hypertension. I also found that two of the beta blockers listed were circled, metoprolol and atenolol, which are both commonly available beta blockers that are used to treat arrhythmias and other cardiac diseases."

"But why was that such an important clue?" asked Mizore.

"I'm getting there. A few moments later Moka and I found the elevator and discovered that it went to Mrs. Esmeralda's room on the third floor, Gin's room on the second floor, and an old bomb shelter in the basement. While Moka and I searched the bomb shelter in vain for the murderer something Moka spoke to me about gave me an idea, so we immediately came back up here to the ground floor, rushed to the kitchen looking for a medicine cabinet, where I found this!"

Tsukune took a bottle out of his pocket.

"Turpentine oil?"

"Yes, and when I found this, the murderer ran to the fuse box and switched off the lights again!"

Tsukune ran out and switched off the light.

"AHH!"

"Not again."

"Turn on the lights!" demanded Izumi.

Tsukune turned the lights back on.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare anyone."

"Too late!"

"Anyway, in the dark, the murderer ran upstairs, locking everyone in whatever room they were in along the way. When they reached the third floor they poisoned Izumi, then chained up and gagged Emiko before dragging her to balcony. Then after we had given Izumi the antidote and were trying to calm her down, the murderer threw Emiko off the balcony sending her falling into the glass roof of the pool below, CRASH! SPLASH! We all ran downstairs to investigate, but while we were on the stairs the murderer was on the third floor and hoping to kill us all, shot the chandelier down, BANG! CRASH! Moka and I ran back upstairs to investigate but found nothing, because the murderer had already taken the elevator from Mrs. Esmeralda's room and rejoined the rest of you down stairs, where we found Emiko dead!"

"SO WHO DID IT!" they all asked.

"Ah yes, we come now to the moment of truth." said Tsukune smiling "The murderer is!"


	13. Alright Whodunit?

"The murderer is!"

Tsukune paused.

"Well? Who did it?" asked Kurumu.

"Yeah, the suspense is killing me." said Moka.

"Hmm… I think there's a better way to explain this to all of you… Turn out your pockets."

"What for?"

Tsukune showed them all an empty plastic bag, the one where they had used put the gun that was used to kill Mrs. Esmeralda that evening.

"As you can see, the gun is missing. The murderer picked it up on their way upstairs to poison Izumi and kill Emiko, so they could shoot the chandelier down when we were at the bottom of the stairs. Now turn out your pockets everyone… Whoever has the gun… is the murderer."

Everyone turned out their pockets.

"Tsukune, I hate to point this out but… none of us have the gun." said Moka.

"Exactly."

"What do you mean?"

Tsukune smiled.

"You can come out… Ulysses."

"YAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH-HAGH!"

Ulysses walked into the room holding the gun, he had a big grin on his face.

"AH!"

"ULYSSES!"

"HE'S ALIVE!"

"Yes… You murdered them all." said Tsukune.

"Brilliantly worked out Tsukune Aono… I congratulate you."

"But… but… but… but…" said the girls.

"Yes, tell me Tsukune Aono, how did you deduce it was me?"

"Yours was the only 'death' that occurred before Mrs. Esmeralda's predicted murder at midnight. Needless to say I found that a little odd. Eventually it became clear that the murderer had to have been someone who knew about the secret passages in this house, when I was explaining to everyone how you did it, I could tell from Izumi's surprised looks that she didn't know about them, even though she was the 'only' servant still alive. Whenever we split up to search the house you ended up shutting off the electricity, it was easy for you here on the ground floor. The murderer also had to be someone who knew that you had an extra set of keys to all the rooms in the house. Then I simply went back to a theory that is seldom used today, the butler did it."

"Hmm… I confess I hadn't thought of that."

"But the beestings!" said Yukari.

"Hurt like hell, but I was never allergic."

"But the rash… and you had no pulse!" said Ruby.

"Yes… Tell us Mr. Aono, how did you account for my 'dead' body in the kitchen?"

"Well I admit, for awhile there you had me completely fooled. I thought it was funny that Ms. Ooyama said that all the years she had worked here; you never said anything about being allergic to beestings, even though there is an apiary in the grounds. But the rash and your lack of pulse made it look like you had been. When Moka and I were down in the bomb shelter she reminded me of Agatha Christie's _And then there were none_. In the story… Oh, hang on."

**(Spoiler Alert!)**

"In the story, the murderer is one of the guests pretending to be dead. It came to my attention that it may be the case here. Mrs. Esmeralda had been shot six times in the back, Ms. Ooyama had been run through from behind with a sword, Ogata had his skull smashed with a mace, someone tried to poison Izumi with something that was clearly lethal, and if the crashing through the window didn't kill Emiko the drowning certainly did, but your death could've been faked, and it was."

"How?" asked Mizore.

"Remember the turpentine I found in the kitchen? Topically it is applied to wounds, but when over applied it causes a nasty rash. When we found Ulysses in the kitchen we saw what we were expected to see, a severe allergic reaction that can only result in death."

"But he had no pulse! I'm sure of it!" said Ruby.

"And yet… here I am."

"Yes Ruby, it looked like he was dead as doornail. But do you Ulysses, remember your fatal mistake?"

"Enlighten me…"

"In the library, the late Mr. Esmeralda's book, the one with the bookmark and the circled words."

Ulysses snapped his fingers.

"What about it?" asked Gin.

"As I said before metoprolol and atenolol are both commonly available beta blockers that are used to treat arrhythmias and other cardiac diseases, but Ulysses doesn't have either of those diseases, instead he put some tablets into his gin martini so they would slow his blood pressure, making it look like he had no pulse. While we all thought he was dead, he murdered his employer and all the others."

Ulysses just stood there smiling.

"But why did you do it?" asked Izumi holding her daughter tightly "How could you? After all these years working faithfully for Mrs. Esmeralda you kill her and the rest of us for her money?"

"It wasn't about inheriting her fortune Izumi." said Tsukune.

"What?"

"If Ulysses wanted to inherit Mrs. Esmeralda's fortune then why was he pretending to be dead?"

"He's right my dear." said Ulysses still smiling "Money was just a red herring, that's why I killed all the others."

"Then why?" asked Moka.

"Did you think it was coincidence that this all took place on the sixth anniversary of her husband's death?"

Tsukune could see it in his eyes.

"It wasn't suicide… You killed him!"

"With this very same gun… and I'd do it again too…"

"But why… Why did you do it?"

"Simple… I first met Jessenia Esmeralda over twelve years ago. Despite her age she was the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes upon. I took the job of being her butler so I could be close to her, and I did get close, I even told her my secret."

"What secret?"

"Don't interrupt me. When I finally thought I was going to win her heart, he came… her damned future husband… she fell in love with a pathetic human instead. But I wasn't going to take that lying down."

"So you got rid of him…" said Tsukune "And for these last six years you've been trying to take advantage of the fumble, but Mrs. Esmeralda somehow learned that it was you who killed her husband recently, knowing she would never love you… you decided if you couldn't have her, nobody could."

"Yes… and what exactly do you propose to do about it?"

Ulysses still had the gun pointed at them, but Tsukune didn't seem to care.

"You're responsible for the deaths of five people and an attempt on Izumi's life as well. So you're going to hang."

"I thought we'd hit this little snag." Ulysses laughed "You think I'm just going to come quietly… but I have no intention of going to the noose."

Before any of the girls could utter a word of warning…

BANG!

"NO! TSUKUNE!"

Tsukune had been shot in the heart, but he just stood there laughing.

"Good shot Ulysses…"

He reached in, pulled out the bullet, and crushed it in his hand. His wound immediately started to heal by itself.

"But not good enough."

"What the?"

"Don't any of you guys remember?" said Moka "Tsukune is a Super Ghoul now, no amount of bullets will kill him!"

"Oh right…" said Yukari "Now I remember, he needs to be beheaded for that to happen."

"So it is true… My late employer has invited the legendary Super Ghoul… No matter… If I can't shoot you to death, I'll just have to rip you apart."

"Yeah right."

"Don't let my camouflage fool you Tsukune Aono, I already told you all that I'm not just a pathetic human like Jessina's husband."

"You're a yokai too?"

"Yes… and not just any yokai… You should feel honored. You'll be one of the few people to see one of my kind… First you will see, then you will die!"

Ulysses started to transform before their very eyes. At first it just seemed like he had significantly increased his muscle mass and tripled in size, but then his skin stated to turn into sparkling white scales, his teeth turned into fangs, his fingers and toes turned into razor sharp claws, horns sprouted from his head and huge dorsal fins shot out of his back.

"He's… he's a dragon!" said Ruby.

"And not just any dragon…" said Moka "He's a Greek diamond dragon!"

Ulysses stood tall like a giant over them and laughed.

"Yes… TIME TO DIE!"


	14. Wrath of the dragon

"YOU'RE MINE!"

Ulysses leapt out at Tsukune and sent him flying though the wall. Since the crime had been solved the barrier that kept them trapped inside had disappeared.

"Guys, you better leave this to Tsukune and me." said Moka.

"A Greek diamond dragon… I'll take your word for it." said Mizore.

Moka raced out to join Tsukune.

"None of this seems weird to you, Izumi?" asked Kurumu.

"I've worked for the most famous witch in the world for about two years, and in that time I've seen a lot of strange things, but I will admit this one takes the cake."

Ulysses punched Tsukune in the gut and sent him flying, then he ran quickly behind him and kicked him into the air, then he jumped up and punched him back into the ground, then he came down and stomped on his gut. Tsukune yelled out in pain.

"I LOVE DOING THAT!" said Ulysses.

"You overgrown lizard… Just because a woman wouldn't return your love you think that gives you the right to kill all these innocent people… You will know your place!"

Moka ran up and kicked Ulysses in the jaw. He was knocked back about thirty feet.

"Tsukune, are you alright?"

"Ugh… I'm… fine… just a… broken rib or two." he said struggling to get to his feet.

"Don't worry… The vampire blood flowing through your veins will take care of that."

"Four murders, an attempted fifth, and now we're fighting a dragon… This is without a doubt the worst field trip ever."

"What are you talking about? You just made five million dollars."

"Well, there's that."

"Let's just hope we live long enough for you to collect."

Ulysses got back on his feet. His diamond-like scales glittered in the moonlight.

"You shouldn't have done that..." he said smiling and spitting a broken fang out of his mouth "I would have made all your deaths quick and painless, but now I'm going to cut you up and eat you for dinner!"

"Dinner? Dude, it's two in the morning."

"Whatever. You're still going to die!"

Ulysses opened his mouth and let out a huge burst of white fire. Moka dashed to the side and Tsukune jumped into the air, then he conjured a ball of energy and through it at Ulysses, but it seemed to have little, if any effect.

"Greek diamond dragons have very tough thick skin, and despite their huge size they are very fast. All in all they are very hard to take down, even for vampires." said Moka.

"Thanks for the heads up."

Ulysses charged at Moka and Tsukune, who attempted to jump over him, but when they made it to the other side he smacked them to the ground with his tail.

"Well… at least the sand is soft." said Tsukune.

"This beach will be your grave!"

Ulysses attempted to do a body slam, but Moka and Tsukune leapt up and dodged it. Moka seized the opportunity to throw some dirt into Ulysses' eyes.

"Tsukune, pick him up by the tail and throw him!"

Tsukune did just that. To gain some momentum he started spinning around and around until he finally threw him, the Moka jumped up into the air and kicked him to the ground. Unfortunately Ulysses got right back up.

"Oh right, the sand."

Moka and Tsukune were doing their best, but no amount of energy blasts or kicks seemed to get through Ulysses' skin.

"This is not going well."

"Let's see you dodge this!"

Ulysses fired a giant ball of fire at them, but as he expected Moka and Tsukune dodged it. While they were distracted Ulysses charged up and punched Moka so hard that she crashed into Tsukune.

"Alright, that's it!"

Tsukune cupped his hands together and gathered his energy.

"Uli…kai'e'…emake…LOA!"

Tsukune fired his blue wave of death at Ulysses, but the dragon jumped right into the blast and was plowing through it.

"NO WAY!"

Ulysses emerged right in Tsukune's face and punched him. Tsukune was sent flying into the ocean.

"So this is what the legendary super ghoul is supposed to be… What a laugh!"

"No! Tsukune!"

"That does it… Come on girls, let's get him!"

Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari, and Ruby all ran at Ulysses. Kurumu tried slashing at him with her claws, but they all broke against the creature's ultra-thick skin.

"You broke my nails, you *******!"

"Take this!"

Mizore tried firing several ice daggers and one big one at Ulysses, but he just melted them. Yukari tried conjuring some heavy objects to drop on him, but he just beat them away, and Ruby's attacks weren't any better. Meanwhile Tsukune was making his way back to shore.

"What do we have to do to stop this guy?... Wait a minute… that's it!"

When Tsukune made it back to the shore he raised his hand in the air.

"To me Kaiser Katana!"

The Kaiser Katana came falling out of the sky. Tsukune caught it in his hand.

"Do you know how to use that thing?" asked the voice of Udar.

"Uh… no… You never taught me how. You only gave it to me last night."

"I'll give you the basics… Channel your energy into the sword… then once you have enough let it loose in one attack."

"And this will take care of Ulysses?"

"In a word, yes."

"I just want to say that you're all very attractive young ladies, it's a shame I have to kill you."

"Get away from my friends you murderous lizard!"

Ulysses spun around and saw Tsukune charging up to him.

"What? Where did he get that sword?"

"Sword slays dragon, Spade Slash!"

Tsukune swung the sword at Ulysses, a huge stream of energy whipped out of it and struck the dragon dead on and sent him crashing to the ground. There was spilled blood on the sand.

"Is he…"

"Looks like it…" said Moka.

"Well… at least we won't have to look at his ugly face again." said Kurumu.

Suddenly…

"Who's face is ugly?"

"AGH!"

"Mr. Super ghoul… I'm going to rip you into a hundred and ninety four pieces and mail you to every country!"

Ulysses was starting to get up and prepared for another attack.

"ENOUGH!"

Ulysses was suddenly bound in golden chains. The kids looked around to see who had done it.

"Headmaster!"

"Is everyone okay?"

"Can we ask a question of our own first?" asked Yukari.

"I don't see the harm."

"How did you get here so fast? It took us all day to get here and now here you are in a couple hours."

"Simple…" said the bus driver "After Ms. Nekonome told us that she couldn't get back into the manor, we took a shortcut."

"Okay… Well to answer your question… We're fine, but Mrs. Esmeralda and the rest of her servants are dead…"

"And Tsukune solved the crime." said Moka.

"I think it's time we read from her will." said the Headmaster.

"Her will?"

"Yes. Before your little field trip began she wrote to me and told me of her intent."

"And you just let it happen?"

"She assured me that you all would survive the weekend. Now to business, in her last will and testament it says… If Tsukune Aono should solve the crime… and we know he will… he shall inherit not only the promised five million dollars, but half of my entire fortune."

"Half?"

"Uh… I'm not sure what the exact number is but… That's a lot." said Yukari.

"It says the rest is to be divided equally among her remaining servants. So Izumi, since everyone else except Ulysses is dead, I guess it goes to you."

"Did you hear that sweetie?" she said to her baby "We're going to be okay!"

"Yadda yadda yadda, as for the rest of my assets, I leave them to be divided equally among Tsukune Aono and my remaining servants."

"Uh… Can we divide up Mrs. Esmeralda's belongings later?" asked Mizore "I am so tired."

Tsukune had completely forgotten that it was now about fifteen minutes past 2 am.

"And can we go somewhere else?" asked Kurumu "I do not want to spend another minute in this manor until daylight."

"I know a good hotel in town." said Izumi.

While the others were getting their stuff from their rooms, Moka pulled Tsukune aside. She had still yet to place her rosario back around her neck.

"Yes Moka?"

"You do remember that I told you a long time ago to keep the other me happy Tsukune?"

"Yes…"

"Not too long ago you made her a promise…"

"And… what of it?"

Moka moved a lot closer to him; she was looking right in his eyes. Tsukune jumped when he realized where her hands were.

"I just wanted you to know… she's getting impatient… we both are."

She winked.

"Uh… Well…"

Tsukune knew that since Mrs. Esmeralda had left him a tremendous amount of money that was no longer going to be a problem.

"I don't think that she… I mean… you two… will have to wait much longer."

"Tsukune…"

"AGH!"

Tsukune jumped as someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He spun around and saw it was only Izumi.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry… I just wanted to thank you…"

"You shouldn't be thanking me… Yukari's the one that gave you the antidote."

"Yes, but you solved the mystery. When Mrs. Esmeralda was murdered I was worried about my own future and my baby's. But now we have nothing to worry about. And for that I thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Oh and before I forget… Mrs. Esmeralda's will said that we were to give you this."

Izumi gave him a mysterious looking black box.

"What is this?"

"It's something she left for you. I have no idea what it is. She put some kind of spell or something on it so only you can open it."

"How do I do that?"

"Just place both your hands on it and tell it to. And Mrs. Esmeralda's instructions were that you should wait to open it until you're alone."


	15. Let's see what's inside

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?"

When Tsukune awoke he found himself chained to the four corners of the bed, and that wasn't the worst part.

"Where are my clothes?"

Waking up naked and chained to the bed. Tsukune had no idea how he had gotten into this situation, or how he was ever going to get out.

"So… you finally decided to wake up… You sleepy head."

Moka entered the room dressed in a silky scarlet robe. But it was Moka's inner self.

"Moka?... Where am I? What's going on here? Wait a minute… Don't look, I'm not wearing anything."

Moka laughed.

"How quickly you forget… We're on our honeymoon you dork."

"Honeymoon? Whoa… I don't remember saying I do."

"Then you must suffer from short term memory loss, because it was yesterday. I've got the ring right here to prove it."

Moka showed him the ring on her finger. It was unlike anything Tsukune had ever seen before. It was silver with diamonds engraved into it; in the center was a big ruby. It was the exact same color as Moka's eyes.

"Okay… I'm convinced… but…. Would you care to explain why I'm chained to the bed like this?"

"Simple… You kept your promise to the other me and pleasured her last night."

Tsukune couldn't believe what happened next… Moka dropped her robe, revealing that she wasn't wearing anything else.

"Now it's my turn."

In a moment she was on top of him.

"Uh… are you sure this is ethical?"

"The other Moka and I are the same person, so it's not cheating, and it's only fair."

"Well… okay… but… are these chains really necessary?"

"They're just to prove a point. You're mine Tsukune Aono, not the other way around… Don't worry; I'll unlock you when I'm done."

Tsukune was sweating like hell. Moka's bare breasts were rubbing against his chests.

"You look nervous… Don't worry Tsukune, I won't bite… hard."

Tsukune woke up. He was sitting in bed in his room at the hotel. It was about four in the morning.

"Whoa… that was… hot."

Tsukune found it hard to go back to sleep.

"Homicides, Dragons, money, and an erotic dream… It's been a hell of a night."

"I'm not surprised." said Udar "Remember the way she looked at you?"

Tsukune remembered what Moka had told him a few hours ago.

"You made the other me a promise… I just wanted you to know… she's getting impatient… we both are."

After all the times Moka's inner self claimed that her only interest in Tsukune was protecting his blood, after all the times she had said that he wasn't good enough for her, after all the times she had pushed him away, had she really implied that she wanted to have sex with him?

"Weren't you paying attention? The whole time you were fighting Demona and Ulysses she was ogling you like a horny school girl."

"Ulysses… Some legendary super ghoul I am… my attacks were like nothing."

"As a wise man once said, there's always a bigger monster."

"I guess I'll just have to train that much harder."

Tsukune still couldn't get back to sleep. His attention turned to the black box that Izumi said Mrs. Esmeralda had left for him. His exact instructions had been to open it when he was alone.

"Well… No time like the present."

Tsukune placed his hands on the box and told it to open.

"Oh… my… gosh!"

Inside was a ring. It looked exactly like the one in his dream, only the ring itself and the jewel in the center were colorless. The box also contained a picture of Mrs. Esmeralda and her husband and a note.

Tsukune

My husband and I would like to thank you for all you've done for us, and incase half my fortune wasn't enough, I'd like to give you this ring. As I'm sure you know by now, whenever I make a little prophecy about the future, I'm always right. I've know for a while now that a new super ghoul was bound to appear, and that super ghoul would be you. I looked into your future and saw that you would need to make a very big decision very soon, you will decide who you want to spend the rest of your life with, but I could also see that you'd be under pressure to make that decision. I've never known anyone that's had as many girls after him as you, but remember that is it your life and your decision to make, no one else can make it for you. Do what makes you happy. Before I go I should let you in on a little secret. My ability to see the future is based on people's decisions, the future is not set in stone, it is always changing. I won't tell you who you'll give the ring to, as I've said already only you can make that decision, just know that I've seen the future and no matter who you pick, the others will get over it in time and find love elsewhere. I wish you happiness and the best of luck.

Signed

Jessenia Esmeralda

P.S.

The ring changes colors in certain situations.

Tsukune looked at the ring Mrs. Esmeralda had given him. As he did he thought about Kurumu, Yukari, Mizore, Ruby, and of course Moka. Graduation day was right around the corner and he knew he would have to tell everyone his decision soon. Up until now he had been worried about how he would obtain the money it take marry a girl, even if the bride's parents paid for the wedding.

"So much for the easy part." he thought to himself.

For awhile both Mizore and Kurumu's mothers had been wrapped around the idea of him being their son-in-law. He wasn't sure what Yukari had expected, and Ruby would like nothing better than to be his slave, being the masochist that she was. And Moka… he remembered the look in her eyes that night he defeated Demona. He began to wonder what was more tempting to her, his blood or his body.

"Well I think Mrs. Esmeralda is wrong about one thing."

"And what is that?" asked Udar.

"Well think about… If I break the promise I made to Moka, then knowing her other self, she'll hunt me down and kill me."

**The end**

**Yes, Tsukune will have to make his decision soon, and we'll get to that later.**

**While you're waitng, enjoy my next classic Yu-gi-oh fanfic!**

**The sequel to Son of Dracula (Which I will need to fix to huge grammer errors in first)**

**Knowing that he only won the duel with Prince Vlad because he was toying with him, Yugi is pushing himself to the limit to be a better duelist, maybe too hard.**

**His friends try to convince him to take it easy, since nothing has happened since.**

**But little do they know, Yugi and his friends have been targeted by an underground league of super rich gamblers**

**These very rich very bad peole want to see if the King of Games can fall and fall hard**

**And the whole party is led by someone who calls himself only... Checkmate!**

**We finally meet Serenity's boyfriend, A duel between Yugi and Kaiba that can only be described as too awesome for TV, and appearing for the first time ever in one of my fanfictions... please welcome... ME!**

**See it all in**

**Yu-gi-oh**

**Cheackmate!**


End file.
